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Morocco have become the first team to put themselves into the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after they defeated Canada 3-0 at the Houston Stadium on Saturday.
The Atlas Lions had to weather a tough first half in which they were outplayed by the Canucks, but after the break they showed their class and secured victory thanks to a brace of goals from Azzedine Ounahi and a late strike by Soufiane Rahimi.
Canada played with impressive intensity and intent early in the game, pinning Morocco into their own half, Super Sport reports.
The co-hosts should have gone ahead in the 10th minute when Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi performed a superb turn in the box before firing off a goal-bound shot, but Morocco goalkeeper Yassine ‘Bono’ Bounou made an excellent save.
The North Africans were dealt a major blow midway through the first half when key attacker Ismael Saibari succumbed to an injury, forcing the introduction of Soufiane Rahimi.
The Atlas Lions’ frustrations began to show late in the first half, with Achraf Hakimi, Azzedine Ounahi and Bilal El Khannouss all picking up needless yellow cards, as the interval arrived with the score locked at 0-0.
Morocco’s struggles in the first half were banished in the 50th minute when they claimed the lead via a well-worked set piece.
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Hakimi, rather than cross from a free kick wide on the right, played a low cut-back to the edge of the box, and Ounahi directed a shot through a crowd of players and into the bottom corner of the net for a 1-0 advantage.
As the second half wore on and the Canucks began committing numbers forward to try and level the game, Morocco were able to capitalise on the counter, with Brahim Diaz providing an assist to tee up Ounahi for his second – hit from a similar spot to his first goal, but this time swept into a higher part of the net for a 2-0 lead in the 82nd minute.
The Atlas Lions almost made it three goals shortly thereafter, with Ounahi turning provider by crossing from the right to pick out an unmarked Rahimi, but his header rebounded off the underside of the crossbar.
However, Rahimi did find a goal deep in injury time, as Morocco made it 3-0 on a sweeping counter to confirm their progression in style.
Morocco will face Paraguay or France in the first quarterfinal, set for the Boston Stadium on Thursday 9 July.
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