2026 World Cup: Morocco march into quarter-finals with win over Canada

Morocco booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with an ultimately convincing 3-0 win over co-hosts Canada in Houston.

That margin of victory did not look feasible at half-time, in what was an insipid display by Mohamed Ouahbi's side before the break.

Their frustrations were also compounded by losing Ismael Saibari midway through the half, as Jesse Marsch's Canada side performed admirably.

The co-hosts had several openings, with chances falling to Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi early in the game.

But goalscoring opportunities were at a premium in a largely cagey first half, with more yellow cards (six) than shots (five). According to Opta, it was the first time that happened in the first half of a World Cup match since 1966.

Fortunately, the second half was more entertaining, and Azzedine Ounahi broke the deadlock in the 50th minute with a brilliant first-time strike from Achraf Hakimi's cut-back.

Marsch's team pushed forward with further chances falling to David and the tireless Tajon Buchanan, but Ounahi scored again to kick the stuffing out of the co-hosts.

It came at the end of a devastating counter-attack, as Brahim Diaz played in the Girona midfielder to rifle home a superb right-footed strike past Maxime Crepeau.

Soufiane Rahimi wrapped up the scoring deep in stoppage time, with Diaz providing the assist once again, as The Atlas Lions became just the second African nation to reach two World Cup quarter-finals.