Azzedine Ounahi’s second-half brace helped Morocco overcome a tepid start to win 3-0 against Canada in Houston on Saturday and advance to the quarter-finals for a second consecutive World Cup.
Morocco, unbeaten in 34 matches, will play on June 9 in Boston against the winner of the France-Paraguay match later on Saturday.
Ounahi put Morocco ahead in the 50th minute and added another in the 82nd minute on an escape before Soufiane Rahimi scored against a pressing Canada in the eighth minute of added time.
Canada’s dream run ended after failing to capitalize on early dominance. They had never made it out of the group stage before this year, but they did and won their first knockout match, 1-0 against South Africa in the round of 16.
Morocco is No. 6 in the FIFA world rankings; Canada 30th.
There were four yellow cards each and Canada committed 24 fouls compared to 14 for Morocco.
After a listless first half, Morocco surprised Canada with a goal out of nowhere on only their second shot of the match.
Achraf Hakimi lined up with a free kick to the right of the goal after a yellow card, the seventh of the match, addressed to Canadian Luc de Fougerolles for a sloppy foul on Soufiane Rahimi.
Hakimi grounded the ball to Ounahi at the edge of the box and he fired a single shot into the right corner as the Canadians were caught a step behind.
In the 77th minute, Canadian Jonathan David sent a free kick from outside the box over the bar and a minute later teammate Tajon Buchanan’s long strike forced a diving save at the left post from Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
That proved crucial when Ounahi received a layoff pass from Brahim Diaz to make it 2-0.
Morocco suffered a major blow in the 22nd minute when top scorer Ismael Saibari had to leave the field with a possible hamstring injury. The 25-year-old attacking midfielder scored in all three group matches and on Wednesday it was announced he was joining Germany’s Bayern Munich from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
Canada was not a nervous team in its first round of 16 against a 2022 World Cup semi-finalist.
As is the case with American coach Jesse Marsch, the Canadians were on the attack from the start. Within five minutes, Bounou made a point-blank save on David and followed shortly after with a punch from a Stephen Eustaquio corner, but he made his best save in the 12th after Canada’s pressure resulted in a giveaway.
Tani Oluwaseyi collected the ball at the top of the box, made a tight turn then fired a low shot that forced Bounou to make the save with his left leg outstretched.
At the hydration break, Canada had managed all four shots, including two on target, in the match.
