2026 World Cup parlay, best bets: Top picks for South Africa-Canada Round of 32 knockout match on Sunday

Co-hosts Canada begin the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup when they face South Africa in the lone contest on Sunday, June 28. The Canadians finished second in Group B after suffering a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in the final group stage match, and they’ll have to play this game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles rather than in front of their home crowd. South Africa managed to get a late draw against Czechia thanks to a penalty, then took advantage of one of the few opportunities they had against Korea Republic in a 1-0 win. Neither country has played a World Cup knockout game in its soccer history, but we know one will make history by going to the Round of 16.

We’ve taken how both teams fared in the group stage into consideration ahead of Sunday’s knockout game and put together a same-game parlay for South Africa vs. Canada, with additional insights from SportsLine experts Jon Eimer, Brad Thomas and Martin Green. Anyone following their World Cup betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.

South Africa vs. Canada World Cup same-game parlay

• Under 2.5 goals
• Both teams to score “No”
• South Africa double chance

FanDuel SGP price: +319

Under 2.5 goals

Canada’s six-goal outburst against a nine-man Qatar side has to be largely dismissed, since it’s unlikely South Africa will have multiple players sent off. Similarly, South Africa’s expected goal number of 0.07 from their opener against Mexico can largely be thrown out. These teams are fairly evenly matched on paper, though Canada have the edge when it comes to experience, especially in the attacking third. However, South Africa have defended quite well for most of the tournament. They’ve only allowed three goals, and one of those was conceded after they went down a man. I expect this to be a largely defensive contest that finishes Under 2.5 goals in regular time.

Both teams to score “No”

This has hit in two of Canada’s three group stage games and once in South Africa’s three matches. Canada produced 1.23 expected goals against Bosnia and 1.66 expected goals against Switzerland, while South Africa had 1.38 expected goals against Czechia and 1.16 against South Korea. And yet, I don’t believe either of these sides are truly that creative offensively. Canada have the talent edge but they might not have the crowd support they usually do, and South Africa have done well to hold off some solid attacking units in the group stage. I’ve already backed the Under, and I don’t think both teams get a goal in this one.

South Africa double chance

As mentioned above, I see this being a low-scoring match where both teams try to avoid major mistakes. Typically, this would favor a squad like Canada. However, all logic goes out the window with this South Africa team. They’ve already made history advancing to the Round of 32 out of a group where many expected them to finish last by a considerable margin. They’ve gotten quite lucky with timely goals and despite arguably not controlling any of the games they played, but they’re here. I’ll ride with the momentum they have to back a South Africa double chance in regular time.