Despite a failed first period, Morocco found the resources to defeat Canada (3-0) on Saturday in Houston in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. The Atlas Lions opened the scoring thanks to a clear strike from Azzedine Ounahi at the start of the second period which broke the deadlock in the match. They will meet France on July 9 in the quarter-finals.

Published on: 07/04/2026 - 9:05 p.m. Modified on: 07/05/2026 - 02:22

Morocco will once again reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but it will have learned that it is never easy to challenge a host country in its World Cup. Facing unleashed Canadians who were playing in the first round of 16 in their history in the competition, the Atlas Lions were initially unrecognizable during a failed first act before turning everything upside down on Saturday July 4 in Houston.

Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was the only one to survive amid the lethargy of his team, keeping his teammates completely upside down in the game. The first major alert, a header from De Fougerolles for Jonathan David, forced Bounou to intervene to block his angle and avoid a lightning goal (5th). He could not breathe for long, since a bad pass from El Aynaoui recovered in the axis ideally launched Oluwaseyi into the area, who put himself in the direction of the goal by playing the Moroccan defense to call upon Bounou again with a spread-legged save (10th).

The thread of the matchCanada - Morocco: the Atlas Lions in the quarters despite some doubts

The Atlas Lions were able to breathe a little afterwards, but without regaining their usual offensive momentum. To make matters worse for Morocco, its striker Ismael Saibari had to leave the pitch after showing signs of discomfort for a few minutes, probably caused by a muscle injury (21st). He was replaced by Soufiane Rahimi, who signed the only Moroccan shot on target captured without difficulty by Crépeau (28th).

That was about it for Morocco in a delicate first period, also punctuated by four yellow cards collected by Mohamed Ouahbi's men (Halhal, Hakimi, Ounahi, El Khannouss) and a scene between the Moroccan captain and Richie Laryea where tempers heated up (39th). But with the score still blank at the break, the Moroccans could already count themselves happy.

Ounahi turns the match on its head

One could wonder how Morocco would manage to get back upright after the break. The coach's words in any case had an effect on his players, since it was a completely different team that returned to the pitch. The reaction was immediate: Achraf Hakimi's free kick played behind left the field open for Azzedine Ounahi at the entrance to the area to trigger a long-range strike, which left Maxime Crépeau no chance at the right post (50th, 0-1). With this opening score, the match changed sides against all expectations and dealt a real blow to the Canadians' heads.

The hardest part was done, and it was the Canadians' turn to get down to business to try to reverse the trend. Not easy against a team much more experienced than them at this stage of the competition. The Canucks only managed to threaten Bounou's goal once, on a free kick from Jonathan David which flew over the bar (78th).

Invigorated, the Moroccans ended up delivering the final blow at the end of the match, once again thanks to Ounahi who concluded the counter-attack led by Brahim Díaz with a new right shot this time into the top corner (82nd, 0-2). Soufiane Rahimi first came close to 3-0 with a header placed on the bar but which bounced just in front of Crépeau's line (84th), before finally finding the net in the last seconds (90th+8, 0-3) and putting an end to the Canadian dream. Morocco will finally face France, who beat Paraguay, on July 9 in the quarter-finals.

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