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Morocco defeated Canada, 3-0, at Houston Stadium in the 2026 World Cup round of 16 on Saturday at Houston Stadium. And it won with three second-half goals coming from a brace by Azzedine Ounahi and a stoppage-time goal from Soufiane Rahimi to put the cherry on the cake and book Morocco’s spot in the quarterfinals.
It was the end of the road for Canada as one of the co-hosts of this tournament. But it was still a successful run when you factor in that Les Rouges had never earned a single World Cup point before this tournament and accomplished so many milestones in this one.
Canada earned its first World Cup point, its first World Cup win, its first knockout-stage qualification and its first knockout-stage win, defeating South Africa 1-0 in the round of 32.
Against Morocco, Canada played relatively well, especially in the first half, where it was the more forward-thinking team. Les Rouges also started the second half well, but moments of quality from Morocco’s talented players did them in. They lacked that little bit of quality in the final third.
Canada coach Jesse Marsch, speaking after the game, was proud of the performance and said he would rather be Canada than Morocco, despite the Atlas Lions moving on to the quarterfinals.
"What a privilege our fans have had to root a team on like this — that goes after the game, that doesn’t play defensive, that shows that they can be better, right?" Marsch said. "Of course, we have to be in these situations more and more, and then we have to find ways to succeed, and then we have to build from that.
"But what a great team. I’d rather be us than them. As good as Morocco is, I’d rather be us, right? I’m really proud of our guys. We went after the game. They’re hurting right now, but my goodness, I couldn’t be prouder."
Photo by Torbjorn Tande/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Marsch believed Canada was the better team in the match and played the better football, but the quality in the final third was the difference. Morocco was clinical with its chances, while Canada was held scoreless despite creating moments of promise.
"We were the better team. We were the better team, right?" Marsch said.
"They made a couple more plays than us, but cranking up the intensity was not the issue. It was just they had a little bit of quality in the final third, and we lacked a little ability to make a play when we needed to.
"But in terms of the match plan, the idea of how we want to play football, the idea of a bunch of guys believing in themselves and going after it, and taking a top team who hasn’t lost in I don’t even know how long, and taking them to the limit — we were the much better team in the first half and even the beginning of the second half.
"It was one play that made it 1-0. Otherwise, the game was ours."
Morocco has now earned a date with the winner of Paraguay-France. It will face off Thursday, July 9 at Boston Stadium.
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