Morocco beat Canada 3-0 to reach quarter-finals

Editor

Morocco produced a patient and professional performance to sweep past World Cup co-hosts Canada 3-0 in their round-of-16 clash on Saturday.

A second-half brace from Azzedine Ounahi and a late Soufiane Rahimi strike on the break saw the Atlas Lions overpower their opponents, who offered little going forward throughout the match.

Morocco is not new to this stage. In 1986, they became the first African nation to reach the knockout stages, before eventually losing to West Germany, while at Qatar 2022 they captured the hearts of millions around the world with a sensational run to the semi-finals, where they lost 2-0 to France.

Even with Canada, they had previous. During their glorious run four years ago, they beat this tournament’s co-hosts 2-1 to top a group that also included Croatia and Belgium.

Several stalwarts from that team, such as Achraf Hakimi, Yassine Bounou, Noussair Mazraoui and Azzedine Ounahi, are still pivotal to the team, and they have been joined by the likes of the gifted 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi and new Bayern Munich signing Ismael Saibari, the winning penalty hero against the Netherlands in the Round of 32.

To many, Morocco were clear favourites going into the match, and so it proved.

They will face the winner of the match between France and Paraguay, being played later on Saturday in Philadelphia.