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Algeria's forward #20 Adil Boulbina and teammates celebrate after the 2026 World Cup Group J football match between Algeria and Austria at the Kansas City Stadium in Kansas City on June 27, 2026. [AFP]
Co-hosts Canada and South Africa will both make World Cup history when they meet in the opening game of the knockout round on Sunday.
Neither nation has ever reached this stage of international football's showpiece event and they could not have asked for a grander stage than the spectacular SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
South Africa are one of nine African sides to have reached the last 32, making the continent the major beneficiary of the expanded 48-team format.
