Canada beats Venezuela in extra round of penalties and reaches the semi-finals of the 1st Copa América

ARLINGTON, Texas – Canada didn’t score many goals heading into the semi-finals of their first Copa América.

Don’t expect any excuses from North American coach Jesse Marsch.

Ismaël Koné scored in the sixth round from penalties shortly after Maxime Crépeau’s third save and Canada moved on with a win over Venezuela on Friday night.

The Canadians won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the quarter-finals, preventing Venezuela from advancing to the Copa América semi-finals for the first time since 2011.

Only the fourth team to emerge from the group stage having scored just one goal, Canada progress after a 0-0 draw with Chile which sent them through to the knockout stages.

“People are going to talk about whether we should score more goals or something,” Marsch said. “We should score more goals. But those are two very strong performances against very good opponents. You can see this team is building.”

Jacob Shaffelburg scored in the 13th minute to Canada before Salomón Rondón equalized in the 64th minute for Venezuela.

The victory earned 48th-ranked Canada a rematch against Lionel Messi and Argentina, the world No. 1 and defending Copa América champions, on Tuesday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Argentina beat Canada 2-0 in the group opener.

Each team scored three times in the five rounds of the penalty shootout, forcing the extra session.

After Crépeau silenced the pro-Venezuelan crowd of 51,080 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys by stopping Jhonder Cádiz, Koné shot past Rafael Romo for the victory.

“I heard some guys say afterwards that I should have made him shoot earlier because he had ice in his veins,” Marsch said of the 22-year-old. “They were right. Probably should have made him shoot sooner. But when we needed him, he stepped up.”

With 54th-ranked Venezuela trailing 1-0, Jon Aramburu played a long pass from his own box, leaving just Rondón and Moïse Bombito fighting for the loose ball near midfield.

As Rondón gained possession of the ball, Crépeau realized he was too far away and ran towards the net. It was too late. Rondón’s shot over the staggering Crépeau bounced 2 yards in front of the net and went in.

Shaffelburg scored off an assist from Jonathan David after David scored Canada’s previous goal in a 1-0 win over Peru with help from Shaffelburg, who picked off David’s pass between the right post and Romo.

After scoring, Schaffelburg held the ball over his head. Tajon Buchanan’s #17 jerseywho broke the tibia in his left leg in training three days before the meeting with Venezuela.

Rondón had two early chances from deflected headers, and it wasn’t long after his goal that Shaffelburg had another dangerous shot from inside the box, which Romo deflected away.

Before Rondón equalized, Eduard Bello redirected a corner towards the net, but the ball fell into the net after a deflection by Crépeau.

Venezuela is in a position to qualify for the 2026 World Cup for the first time, which will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Nine games, a World Cup record, will be in the AT&T Stadium.

But La Vinotinto failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Copa América for only the second time. Venezuela finished fourth 13 years ago.

“I think we need to keep working and set a goal for ourselves,” Venezuelan coach Fernando Batista said through a translator. “This is a long process. We have a big dream that we are fulfilling. All Venezuelans want to qualify for the World Cup and the Copa América gave us the opportunity to reinforce our squad.”

Shortly after Rondón’s goal, Liam Millar shot past Romo but went wide on the right. Millar missed Canada’s first time in the shootout, sending a shot over the post just after Yangel Herrera went left for Venezuela.

The teams traded errors again in the fourth round of penalties, before a pair of successful strikes marked the extra session.

“We were the better team,” Marsch said. “We deserved to win that match. Penalties are more of a coin flip. But we were the better team that day.”

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