Two goals from Kyriakos Selaidopoulos of Montreal and some solid goaltending from Edmonton's Greg Bonar helped Canada to a major upset at FIFA's Beach Soccer World Cup on Tuesday.
Sipho Sibiya of Edmonton and Kyle Yamada of Calgary also scored as the Canadians defeated European champion Spain 4-0 to earn a berth in Thursday's quarter-final against Brazil.
Bonar earned the tournament's only shutout so far and Canada finished second in Group B with a 2-1 record.
"We managed to play our system with confidence which makes the victory that much more enjoyable," head coach Ross Ongaro said in a release.
Canada will be in tough against the Brazilians, who beat the U.S. 10-6 Tuesday. A nine-time Beach Soccer champion, Brazil was held to a disappointing third-place finish in the inaugural FIFA tournament last year after losing to Portugal in the semifinals.
In other Tuesday games Poland beat Japan 8-5 and France downed Iran 6-3.
Canada took a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first quarter Tuesday when Chris Lemire's rebound came out to Selaidopoulos, who beat the Spanish goalkeeper.
Spain almost tied it early in the second when a long-range strike hit the Canadian cross bar and landed on the goal-line. But Bonar pounced on the ball just in time.
Sibiya converted a pass from Damir Jesic to put Canada ahead 2-0 in the 16th minute of the second quarter.
Spain was awarded a penalty kick at the 21st minute but Bonar turned it away to protect Canada's two-goal lead.
The Canadians went up 3-0 when Lemire headed the ball along the Spanish goal-line where Selaidopoulos knocked it in the open net.
Yamada's rocket from the centre of the pitch got past the Spanish 'keeper to put Canada ahead 4-0.
Beach soccer is played on a sand field about 40 metres long and 30 metres wide. Each match is divided into three periods of 12 minutes, and substitutions are unlimited.