Canada remain a work in progress as the World Cup knockouts loom - ESPN

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — In the space of one solitary second-half minute against Switzerland, Canada saw their World Cup bubble temporarily burst.

Up until Wednesday's clash, this had felt like a new frontier for soccer in the country, a summer with the potential to catapult the national team to global notoriety. However, after Switzerland forward Rubén Vargas set his team on the way to a 2-1 victory with a goal just 40 seconds after the break, it became abundantly clear the tournament co-hosts are still very much a work in progress.

The scenes at full time remained celebratory — after all, this was still a day on which Canada made history by qualifying for the World Cup knockout stages for the first time. And the response from Jesse Marsch's side after Switzerland made it 2-0 through Johan Manzambi was heartening. Substitute Promise David scored with his first touch just 73 seconds after entering the pitch, after which Canada had their opponents under siege as they probed for an equalizer.

Ultimately, though, Canada's only victory at this tournament so far has come against Qatar, a team currently No. 61 in the FIFA world rankings. Either side of that 6-0 rout was a 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Wednesday's defeat to a Switzerland team that sits No. 17 in the world.

The latter is a result that sees Canada surrender the top spot in Group B to Murat Yakin's side, and therefore spurn the chance to remain in Vancouver for their round-of-32 game. Instead, Les Rouges will now travel to Los Angeles, where they will take on the runner-up of Group A — most likely South Korea, who will benefit from the considerable Korean support in Southern California.

Though both the United States and Mexico have topped their