Captain Stephen Eustaquio scored the winning goal in second-half stoppage time as Canada edged out South Africa 1-0 in Los Angeles.

Having never won a World Cup match before this year's tournament, Canada has now made history by earning its first triumph at the competition over Qatar, before winning its first-ever knockout game on the biggest stage of all.

Speaking to his players in a post-match huddle, Marsch was heard on the television broadcast to say: "You guys are showing your character, you guys are Canadian heroes now.

"You're Canadian heroes for the future children of this country. This sport has a big future because of you guys. You should be so proud of who you are, because of this game."

Next up, Canada will face either Morocco or Netherlands – who entered the tournament ranked seventh and eighth in the world, respectively – for a quarter-final place.

Whoever emerges victorious from that last-32 tie, Marsch feels Canada's next game – in Houston on Sunday – will be everything his side dreamed of.

"I'm flying to Monterrey today to go to the [Morocco-Netherlands] game. Tomorrow, I'll be in the stadium," Marsch said after Canada's win.

"I'll check what's going on, I'll make sure our guys get a good reach in and they're going to be ready to throw everything at a giant. 

"Maybe it's the Netherlands, maybe it's Morocco, but this is what I wanted. I wanted to show that they deserved the right to go after a giant, and that's what we're going to do."

South Africa boss Hugo Broos, who became the oldest coach to lead a team in a World Cup knockout-stage game at the age of 74, admitted the better team won.

"I'm still just as proud as two or three days ago. I think we had a good World Cup but today, when we play against a team like this, with power and speed, then we're behind," he said. 

"This is something we have to learn. And therefore, it was important for this team that we were here. 

"It's certainly something we have to do and in the next few months, I'm sure this team will be stronger than before, because today we played against a team who are a little bit further along than we are. We played quite a good game. We could have done more."