When the final whistle sounded on Canada's victory over South Africa on Sunday, coach Jesse Marsch wasted no time — he drew his players and staff into a huddle and told them exactly what they had become.

"Canadian heroes," he called them, moments after his side had won a knockout match at a World Cup for the first time in history, sealing a place in the last 16. "The future of the sport in this country is huge because of you."

The forgotten co-host finding its voice

Mexico hosted the tournament's opening match while the United States stages the final. Much of the pre-tournament spotlight fell on those two nations, leaving Canada as something of a forgotten partner in this three-country co-hosting arrangement.

Yet Canada quietly built something genuine from within — a growing passion for the game and for the national team. The shift is being felt everywhere, from the language fans use to describe the sport to the crowds turning out in red and white.

"It is starting to become known as football now, not soccer," one supporter told BBC Sport ahead of the South Africa match. "Canada is becoming a football nation."

That transformation was the very goal Marsch set out to achieve when he took charge of the national team two years ago — an ambition that seemed far-fetched at the time for a country whose sporting identity has long been anchored to ice hockey.

A historic run through the group stage

Canada arrived at this tournament having lost all six of their previous World Cup matches. They immediately tore up that record, drawing with Bosnia-Herzegovina for their first-ever World Cup point, then thrashing Qatar 6-0 to claim their first win and confirm a place in the knockout rounds.

Captain Alphonso Davies, accustomed to the enormous football-mad crowds he faces with Bayern Munich and in the UEFA Champions League, admitted he was moved to tears watching thousands of Canadians fill the stands in red and white for their opening game in Toronto.

"It was surreal because I've never seen so many Canadians at a football match before," Davies said. "It brought tears to my eyes."

Eustaquio delivers in stoppage time

A defeat by Switzerland meant Canada could not play their last-32 match on home soil, but their fans crossed the border to Los Angeles in huge numbers — making the Canadians feel like the home side against South Africa. Despite their opponents appearing to push for penalties early on, Canada held steady. Stephen Eustaquio then provided the decisive moment of quality in stoppage time to seal the win.

This was also the first occasion in history that a World Cup host nation played a match outside their own borders.

"I wanted to be able to voice to them how important a moment this will prove to be for the sport in the country," Marsch said of the post-match huddle. "It is a shame we couldn't do it in Vancouver, in front of our fans, but nevertheless I think you saw the character of the team, the quality of the team, the mentality of the team and the togetherness of the team."

A free hit against giants

Canada's reward is a last-16 clash against either the Netherlands or Morocco — the Netherlands ranked seventh in the world, Morocco sixth. Neither will be an easy opponent, but Marsch is relishing the challenge.

"In general my goal in this tournament, apart from inspiring our nation, was to make a run that we could get to see one of the giants of the world," he said. "Given Morocco's last six years they are a modern giant and given the success of the Dutch team for what feels like centuries that is a traditional giant. I feel like it is a free hit and we will go after it and do whatever we can to get a win."

For fans who remember attending Canada matches in the 1990s when the home support was often outnumbered in their own stadium, the scenes at this World Cup represent something far greater than football results. The game in Canada, it seems, has changed forever.