Vancouver. Switzerland spoiled Canada's World Cup celebration, defeating the co-hosts 2-1 on Wednesday to secure first place in Group B.

Goals from Rubén Vargas and Johan Manzambi lifted the Swiss to victory, allowing them to finish atop the group and earn a week of rest before returning to Vancouver on July 2 to face one of the tournament's best third-place teams.

"I think that we deserve to be where we are right now," Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said. "In three days from now, we will know the opponent of the next match, and now we have the possibility to watch this tournament, and to watch the matches, and we will take what we will get."

Canada dropped to second place but still advanced to the knockout stage for the first time in its history. The Canadians had hoped to secure a win or draw to keep their round-of-32 match on home soil.

Instead, Canada will travel to Inglewood, California, to face South Africa on Sunday after the Africans defeated South Korea 1-0 in Monterrey to finish second in Group A.

"We wanted to be here in Vancouver, but we still have a massive opportunity ahead of us to find a way to still electrify the nation, even though it'll be from Los Angeles," Canada coach Jesse Marsch said.

Manzambi, who scored twice off the bench in Switzerland's 4-1 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina last week, earned his first start against Canada. The 20-year-old midfielder has emerged as one of the breakout stars of the tournament after becoming the youngest player to score two goals as a substitute in World Cup history.

Vargas opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the second half. His shot beat Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, struck the post and bounced into the net.

Breel Embolo then set up Manzambi in the 57th minute. The midfielder's shot slipped through Crépeau's hands to give Switzerland a 2-0 lead and silence the sellout crowd dressed largely in red, which included Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani.

Canada pulled one back in the 76th minute when substitute Promise David scored with a volley on his first touch of the game, just moments after entering the match. Despite mounting pressure late, the hosts could not find an equalizer.

Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka came close in the first half, but his free kick in the 37th minute sailed over the crossbar. Canada also threatened before halftime, with Ali Ahmed forcing a save from Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel in the 42nd minute.

Canada entered the match with momentum after recording its first-ever World Cup victory, a 6-0 win over Qatar. However, the victory was tempered by the loss of midfielder Ismaël Koné, who suffered a broken left leg and was stretchered off. Koné attended Wednesday's match on crutches.

Switzerland opened the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Qatar before routing Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1. Considered the favorites in Group B, the Swiss are appearing in their sixth consecutive World Cup and have reached the round of 16 in each of the past three tournaments.

"We needed some time to get really into this tournament," Yakin said. "There were big teams who won against small countries, so we really needed to get into this tournament fast, and the way we play football now, I'm very happy with that."

Canada, making its third World Cup appearance, opened the tournament with a 2-2 draw against Bosnia.

"We have to give our team a lot of credit," Marsch said. "We've had a lot of injuries, we've had to manage a lot of different situations. We still got a really good point in the first game, we had a fantastic performance against Qatar and, on another day, maybe we win the group. It was just a matter of fine margins."

Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Qatar 3-1 in the other Group B match and remains in contention to advance as one of the best third-place teams. Qatar was eliminated.

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