Morocco Beat Co-host Canada 3-0 to Reach 2026 World Cup Quarterfinals

Morocco became the first team to reach the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, beating co-host Canada 3-0 in the round of 16 behind two second-half goals from Azzedine Ounahi and a late third from Soufiane Rahimi.

The match, the first of the knockout stage, was played at Houston Stadium in Houston, Texas. Canada, one of the tournament’s three co-hosts along with the United States and Mexico, was eliminated despite entering the day off the deepest men’s World Cup run in program history.

The score was 0-0 at halftime after a first half in which Canada created the better openings but could not convert. Multiple match reports described chances for forwards Tani Oluwaseyi and Jonathan David before the break, while the game also turned physical early and featured several stoppages. Morocco had to adjust quickly when Ismael Saibari was substituted after an apparent injury in the opening stages.

After halftime, Morocco took control. The side coached by Mohamed Ouahbi was more efficient in possession and far more clinical in front of goal, with Ounahi scoring twice to break open a match that had been closely contested before the interval. Rahimi then added Morocco’s third in stoppage time to remove any doubt and send the North African side into the last eight.

Morocco will play either France or Paraguay in the quarterfinals. That matchup will determine whether Ouahbi’s team next faces one of the traditional powers of European soccer or a Paraguay side seeking its own place in the final four.

The result adds another significant chapter to Morocco’s recent World Cup record. Morocco reached the semifinals in 2022, the best finish ever by an African nation, and this victory reinforced its status as one of Africa’s strongest international teams. For Canada, coached by Jesse Marsch, the defeat ended a landmark tournament that had already delivered the men’s national team’s first World Cup knockout-stage wins, even if the run stopped short of the quarterfinals.