A Slow Start, Then a Statement
Morocco needed only a half to end Canada’s co-host fairytale. After Canada entered the tie chasing history as the first of the three hosts to reach the knockout rounds, the Atlas Lions turned a cagey opening 45 minutes into a statement second half, cruising to a 3-0 win that sends them into the quarterfinals for a second consecutive World Cup.
Azzedine Ounahi provided the breakthrough, converting from close range after Achraf Hakimi whipped in a free-kick, before doubling his tally later in the half. Substitute Soufiane Rahimi added gloss in stoppage time, capping a move started by Brahim Diaz, whose pass gave him a fourth assist of the tournament and a new African record for a single World Cup.
Canada’s Bittersweet History
For Canada, the defeat closes an otherwise landmark tournament. Reaching the Round of 16 as co-hosts already surpassed anything the program had achieved before this cycle, and praise for the squad’s growth was widespread even in defeat. But history has a way of being unsentimental about co-hosts: Canada becomes the first of the three North American hosts to exit the competition, with Mexico and the United States still alive.
Morocco’s Growing Case
What Morocco is building now looks less like a repeat of their historic 2022 run to the semifinals and more like a program with staying power. This is the second straight World Cup in which the Atlas Lions have reached the last eight, a feat matched by very few nations outside the traditional powers. Their pressing intensity, honed over four years since Qatar, showed up in how comfortably they suffocated Canada once the game opened up.
Hakimi, still marshaling the back line and pushing forward at will, has now been directly involved in a string of Morocco’s biggest moments across two tournaments. Ounahi’s emergence as a difference-maker in the final third gives coach Walid Regragui another route to goal beyond set pieces, a dimension that could matter against the far more direct challenge awaiting in the quarterfinals.
What Comes Next
Morocco now turns to a rematch of sorts, meeting France in Boston on July 9, four years after the two sides met at the semifinal stage in Qatar. It is a daunting draw, but one Morocco has earned the right to face on level footing rather than as a surprise package. For Canada, the tournament ends with a program-altering run that closed in the manner co-hosts often fear: comprehensively, but with a foundation to build from before 2030.
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