Morocco cruised into the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-finals on Saturday with a comprehensive 3-0 win over co-hosts Canada in the Round of 16 clash at Houston Stadium, ending the Canadians’ historic run at the tournament.

The first half in Houston was tight, with Canada’s high press frustrating Morocco and keeping the scoreline goalless at the break.

The Atlas Lions emerged from the interval with far greater purpose, however, and broke the deadlock in the 50th minute when Azzedine Ounahi capitalised on a crisp cut-back from Achraf Hakimi, firing a low shot through traffic to open the scoring. Ounahi then doubled his and Morocco’s tally in the 82nd minute with a composed finish to put the result beyond doubt.

Substitute Soufiane Rahimi added gloss to the scoreline deep into stoppage time, latching onto a pass from Brahim Diaz to make it 3-0. The assist also set a new tournament landmark, with Diaz recording his second assist of the match and an African record of four at this World Cup.

Morocco’s win was made all the more striking by the underlying numbers. The North African side won despite having just five shots, the fewest by a winning team in the World Cup knockout rounds since such records began back in 1966. Morocco did, however, produce the higher expected-goals figure on the day, narrowly edging Canada 0.85 to 0.78.

The victory was also tinged with concern for Morocco, who were forced into an early change when star forward Ismael Saibari, the team’s joint-top scorer at the tournament, went off with an apparent hamstring problem after only 21 minutes. His replacement, Rahimi, ended up playing a decisive role in sealing the win.

For Canada, the defeat brings a landmark campaign to a close. As co-hosts, the Canadians had already surpassed expectations by picking up their first-ever World Cup point, first-ever win, and reaching the knockout stage for the first time in their history, before their run ended against a Moroccan side ranked 24 places above them.

Morocco’s progress means it is the first time an African team has made the quarterfinals in back-to-back World Cups, following their historic semi-final run at Qatar 2022. They will now await the winner of France’s clash with Paraguay, with the quarter-final tie set for Boston on Thursday.

Photo Credit: Getty Images