Canada’s men’s national soccer team held its final practice session in Vancouver on Friday before departing for Los Angeles, where they will face South Africa in the World Cup round of 32. Despite leaving home soil, forward Tani Oluwaseyi made clear that playing in front of an opposing crowd is something the team genuinely welcomes.
“I think we, I wouldn’t say prefer, but we really like a hostile environment,” Oluwaseyi told reporters at the team’s training facility. “We really like an away crowd, because it just gives you that extra motivation to prove all the fans around you wrong.”
Canada’s path to Los Angeles came after a loss to Switzerland in their final group stage game, which dropped them to second place in Group B. That result sent Switzerland to Vancouver for their knockout round match instead.
Oluwaseyi pointed to the team’s shared experience over the past two years as a key reason for their cohesion heading into the elimination round. The squad competed together in both the 2024 Copa America and the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, both held in the United States.
“I think for us, it’s just been over the last two years we’ve been in two tournaments together, so we’ve done Copa together, we did the Gold Cup as well. So I think it’s just growing together and failing together, succeeding together,” Oluwaseyi said. “I think all those things kind of brew together to put us in the position that we’re in now, to head into a knockout game at a World Cup.”
Head coach Jesse Marsch’s squad has built strong chemistry through those competitions, and Oluwaseyi was quick to describe the team’s bond as rooted in genuine unity rather than an us-against-the-world mindset.
“I wouldn’t say it has a lot to do with us against them — I think, for us, it’s always just been us, that’s really all that matters. The guys in the locker room and going to play with those guys,” he said. “The results, they go our way, sometimes they don’t, but at the end of the day, I think it’s just the love that we have being around each other and playing with each other.”
Teammate Tajon Buchanan also expressed enthusiasm about the upcoming trip south, noting that South Africa — who finished second in Group A, five points behind Mexico — will be a worthy opponent.
“Now we’re in a knockout phase of a World Cup, and it’s exactly where we want to be, so, yeah, it’s just about going out there, competing and winning games. We’re all super excited and looking forward to it,” Buchanan told reporters.
