With their 2-1 loss to Switzerland on Wednesday, Canada has dropped down to second place in Group B at the FIFA World Cup ahead of the knockout rounds.
Switzerland takes the group with seven points while Canada edges out Bosnia and Herzegovina for the second spot via tiebreaker at four points each.
Despite the result, this marks the first time in World Cup history that the Canadian men have made it out of the group stages in their three appearances at the tournament.
Had they won their group, Canada would have remained on home soil in Vancouver for the Round of 32, but will now instead head south of the border to Los Angeles for their match on Sunday, June 28 at 3 p.m. ET on the first day of knockout play at the 2026 World Cup.
While Canada’s opponents for the Round of 32 has not yet been finalized as of Wednesday afternoon, they will take on the second-place finisher from Group A.
Mexico has already clinched the top spot in the group with six points from two games played, leaving one of Korea Republic, Czechia, or South Africa as the team standing in Canada’s way.
Korea Republic can clinch second place in the group on Wednesday night with either a win or draw against South Africa (9 p.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT on TSN2), which would then set up the Round of 32 match against Canada.
The Taegeuk Warriors are currently ranked seven spots higher than Canada in the FIFA men’s world rankings at No. 24. They opened their World Cup with a 2-1 win over Czechia but fell to Mexico 1-0 in their most recent match.
South Korea made the Round of 16 at Qatar 2022 before being eliminated by Brazil.
