Morocco defeated co-hosts Canada 3-0 to book their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinals on Saturday.
Published: July 5, 2026, 10:09 AM IST
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Azzedine Ounahi (left) of Morocco celebrates after scoring against Canada in FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match. (Photo: IANS)
Canada vs Morocco FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16: The 2022 edition surprise semifinalist Morocco book their berth in the last 8 stage of FIFA World Cup 2026 with a dominant 3-0 win over co-hosts Canada at the NRG Stadium in Houston on Saturday. Morocco have become the first-ever African nation to qualify for back-to-back World Cup quarterfinals.
Azzedine Ounahi scored a brace to lead Morocco to a dominant win in the Round of 16 to make the country the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals more than once. “We are no longer a surprise. Now when people talk about Morocco we’re a major contender and it’s a great source of pride. I think it’s only the beginning and I hope we continue to have runs like this,” coach Mohamed Ouahbi was quoted as saying by AP news agency.
“We want to keep going. We don’t want to stop,” the Moroccan coach added. Morocco will now go up against 2022 edition runners-up France in the quarterfinal clash at the Gillette Stadium in Boston on Thursday.
-1 – The first half of Canada vs. Morocco featured fewer shots (5) than yellow cards (6), the first time that’s happened in the first half of a FIFA World Cup match on record (since 1966).
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It will be Morocco’s second straight appearance in the last 8 stages after becoming the first African team to reach the semifinals in 2022. “We are so proud to represent Africa because it’s a continent with a lot of talent and Africa deserves to be in the best level in football,” goalkeeper Yassine Bounou said.
After playing out a stalemate in the first half, Morocco finally broke through with Ounahi taking a free kick from Achraf Hakimi and made a right-footed shot through traffic from outside the box to the bottom right corner to put Morocco on top 1-0 in the 50th minute.
Ounahi made it 2-0 on a right-footed shot from the middle of the box off a pass from Brahim Diaz in the 82nd minute. Soufiane Rahimi added the final nail in Canada’s coffin in the final minute of stoppage time.
The loss ended a dream run for World Cup co-hosts Canada, who won their first-ever knockout round game, beating South Africa 1-0 to reach Saturday’s match. The country were taking part in the World Cup for just the third time.
Canada coach Jesse Marsch shared his postgame message to the team. “I told them that I was proud of them and I challenged them to understand that we can play like this all the time against the best teams in the world. We can be better on the day. And then the challenge is, can we hold that standard for 90 minutes?” Marsch was quoted as saying by AP news agency.
Morocco, ranked No. 7 in the FIFA rankings, stunned the Netherlands in a penalty shootout to reach the Round of 16 and send the Dutch to their earliest World Cup exit.
It was, however, an extremely physical match with eight yellow cards being handed out. Both teams received four cards each. Hakimi and Canada’s Richie Laryea received yellow cards in the 40th minute. Hakimi shoved Laryea to the ground and then Laryea pushed him which led to a scuffle between both teams.
