{"id":2000118195,"date":"2026-07-04T22:48:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000118195"},"modified":"2026-07-04T22:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:48:09","slug":"world-cup-ruthless-morocco-punish-canada-to-secure-quarter-final-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/world-cup-ruthless-morocco-punish-canada-to-secure-quarter-final-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup: Ruthless Morocco punish Canada to secure quarter-final spot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The scoreline ultimately looked comfortable for the Atlas Lions, but it masked a difficult first half in which Canada were the sharper side. The co-hosts began with energy and pressing intensity, forcing Morocco into repeated errors and winning a series of early set-pieces. Canada even came close to an opener when Tani Oluwaseyi broke through on goal after a defensive turnover, only to be denied by a strong save from goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco, meanwhile, struggled to establish rhythm and suffered an early setback when key midfielder Ismael Saibari was forced off with a hamstring injury in the 22nd minute. The disruption added to a disjointed first-half display, with coach Mohamed Ouahbi visibly frustrated on the touchline as misplaced passes and loose possession prevented his side from building control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada thought they might carry their momentum into the break, but the match turned shortly after halftime. In the 50th minute, captain Achraf Hakimi played a clever free-kick routine from the right, finding Ounahi on the edge of the area. The midfielder struck first time, sending a composed finish into the bottom corner from distance to give Morocco the lead against the run of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal shifted the balance of the contest. Canada\u2019s intensity dropped, while Morocco grew in confidence and began exploiting space on the counter-attack. The North Africans looked far more assured in midfield and began to dictate tempo as Canada pushed forward in search of an equaliser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco struck decisively again in the 82nd minute. Brahim D\u00edaz played Ounahi through on a quick break, and the midfielder unleashed a powerful shot into the roof of the net to complete his brace. The strike made him the first African player since 2002 to score twice in a World Cup knockout match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada\u2019s resistance was effectively over, and Morocco added a third in stoppage time when Rahimi finished a flowing counter-attack involving D\u00edaz to cap a clinical final phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The victory marks Morocco\u2019s second consecutive World Cup quarter-final appearance, further underlining their growing reputation as one of Africa\u2019s strongest tournament sides. They now await the winner of France vs Paraguay in Boston on July 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Morocco’s Azzedine Ounahi celebrates scoring their first goal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Morocco\u2019s Azzedine Ounahi celebrates scoring their first goal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Morocco\u2019s Azzedine Ounahi scores their second goal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morocco secured their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a convincing 3-0 victory over Canada on Saturday, as Azzedine Ounahi\u2019s second-half brace and a late goal from Soufiane Rahimi sealed a polished finish to a tense last-16 encounter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000118200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000118195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000118200,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/MixCollage-04-Jul-2026-10-46-PM-9339.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":886,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/MixCollage-04-Jul-2026-10-46-PM-9339.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/MixCollage-04-Jul-2026-10-46-PM-9339.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/MixCollage-04-Jul-2026-10-46-PM-9339.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/MixCollage-04-Jul-2026-10-46-PM-9339.jpg","width":886,"height":600},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/MixCollage-04-Jul-2026-10-46-PM-9339.jpg","width":886,"height":600}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000118195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000118195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000118195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000118201,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000118195\/revisions\/2000118201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000118200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000118195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000118195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000118195"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000118195"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000118195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}