Morocco knockout wasteful Canada, qualify for quarter-finals

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Published – 02:01

By Maxwell Kumoye

Morocco ended Canada's historic 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a commanding 3-0 victory in Houston, becoming the first African nation to book a place in the quarter-finals while sending the co-hosts out of the tournament.

After an uninspiring and ill-tempered first half, the Atlas Lions found their breakthrough five minutes after the restart.

A cleverly worked free-kick saw Achraf Hakimi cut the ball back to Azzedine Ounahi, who had time and space to sweep a clinical finish into the net from the edge of the area.

Ounahi struck again eight minutes from time, finishing off a swift counter-attack to put the result beyond doubt, before Soufiane Rahimi capped an impressive victory deep into stoppage time by sliding his effort beneath goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.

The scoreline was harsh on Canada, who had dominated the opening exchanges and should have taken an early lead. Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi were both denied in one-on-one situations by Morocco goalkeeper Bono within the first 11 minutes.

Morocco struggled to find their rhythm for much of the contest and were visibly frustrated in a feisty encounter that produced seven yellow cards from English referee Michael Oliver.

Despite their slow start, the North Africans gradually took control and nearly added another goal when Rahimi's looping header struck the crossbar before the forward finally got on the scoresheet with the final kick of the match.

The victory keeps Morocco's dream alive as they move to within one win of matching their historic run to the semi-finals at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

For Canada, it marked the end of their finest-ever men's World Cup campaign. Although their journey finished in the last 16, the co-hosts made history by earning their first World Cup point, first victory, progressing beyond the group stage for the first time, and claiming their maiden knockout-stage win.

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