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It was an event taken out of a movie, played at the Los Angeles Stadium, in the house of Hollywood, and against the great plans of the FIFA World Cup 2026. When the clock was running into stoppage time and the score was 0-0, Canadian Stephen Eustaquio received the ball on the edge of the South African penalty box. Then, he went through Ronwen Williams’ diving goal to send his team into the World Cup Round of 16 for the first time in their history.
Eustaquio’s winner had a thrilling finish in the first round of the tournament on Sunday. It might just be one of the highlights of his career so far.
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Here’s everything we know about the 29-year-old man of the hour:
From Canada to Portugal, and back again
Born in Leamington, Ontario, to Portuguese parents, football was close to Eustaquio’s freedom.
His youth career began at Leamington Minor Soccer before moving to Portugal. Seven-year-old Eustaquio and his older brother, Mauro, played for the club before Eustaquio signed with second-tier Portuguese club Leixoes in 2017 and then moved to GD Chaves in 2018.
The following year, Eustaquio moved to Cruz Azul in the Mexican Liga MX, before being loaned to Pacos de Ferreira, where he started again in January 2020. He made his European debut in August of the same year and scored the third goal in a 4-0 win against Larne in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Eustaquio finally reached the Primeira Liga in January 2022, when he was loaned to Porto, who bought him in May of that year.
His most recent move was to Major League Soccer (MLS) team Los Angeles FC in February 2026, on a four-month loan with an option to sign.
Recurrent parental deaths
It was during Porto’s match against Santa Clara in April 2023 that Eustaquio’s mother, Esmeralda, died of brain cancer. A year later, his father died of a sudden heart attack. Just before this happened, Eustaquio and his girlfriend, Constanta, welcomed a daughter, Benedita.
“Everything I do is for my family, my parents, my girlfriend, my daughter, my brother, my friends at home – for all of them,” Eustaquio said in a post-match interview at the Los Angeles Stadium, which brought frustration to the midfielder.
In an interview with Sports Net Canada in September 2024, Mauro Eustaquio, head coach of Inter Toronto FC, said he and Stephen made a conscious decision to accept the grief and honor the lives of their parents.
“Our parents…gave us wings. So now it’s up to us to fly.”
“We are grateful because we are all doing what we love,” said Mauro.
The former footballer-turned-coach also said in the same interview that Portuguese club Leamington was where families gathered and children, like him and Stephen, played football regularly.
Sixty Canadians
Eustaquio started his youth career in Canada, where he represented at the 2012 AGS Cup. He participated in youth football in Portugal in the U-21 team in the 2019 UEFA European Championship.
Eustaquio committed to play for Canada at the senior level in February 2019, and was first called up in October for the CONCACAF Nations League. He went on to play in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he scored his first international goal. He played in Qatar 2022 World Cup, 2023 CONCACAF Nations League final, and Porto in 2025 FIFA World Cup.
“We worked hard to win. We really want to give this win to all Canadians,” Eustaquio said after Sunday’s game, where he was the stand-in captain when Alphonso Davies left the field with an injury.
“We kept believing and pushing, we couldn’t think otherwise.
“It was an amazing goal, but when I shot, I felt that everyone was shooting with me. Everyone put a little bit of energy into it, and it went into the back of the net,” said Eustaquio about his sixth goal for Canada in his 61st appearance for the 2026 World Cup participants.
