Azzedine Ounahi’s second-half brace helped Morocco overcome a tepid start for a 3-0 victory over Canada in Houston on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals for a second straight World Cup.
Morocco, unbeaten in 34 matches, plays June 9 in Boston against the winner of the France-Paraguay match from later Saturday.
Ounahi gave Morocco the lead in the 50th minute and added another in the 82nd minute on a breakout before Soufiane Rahimi scored against a pressing Canada in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Canada’s dream run ended after failing to take advantage of early domination. They had never before this year advanced out of the group stage, but did so and won their first knockout match, 1-0 against South Africa in the round of 32.
Morocco is No. 6 in the Fifa world rankings; Canada 30th.
There were four yellow cards apiece and Canada had 24 fouls to 14 for Morocco.
After a listless first half, Morocco stunned Canada with a goal from nowhere on only their second shot of the match.
Achraf Hakimi lined up for a free kick to the right of the goal after a yellow card, the seventh of the match, to Canada’s Luc de Fougerolles for a sloppy foul on Soufiane Rahimi.
Hakimi put the ball on the ground to Ounahi on the edge of the box and he one-timed a shot to the right corner with the Canadians caught a step behind.
In the 77th minute, Canada’s 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 stop at the left post by Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
That proved crucial when Ounahi took a layoff pass from Brahim Diaz to make it 2-0.
Morocco suffered a major blow in the 22nd minute when leading scorer Ismael Saibari had to leave 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 side PSV Eindhoven.
Canada looked nothing like a nervous team in their first round of 16 going against a 2022 World Cup semifinalist.
As is the style of American-born coach Jesse Marsch, the Canadians were on the attack from the start. Within five minutes, Bounou made a close-range save on David and followed soon after with a punch of a Stephen Eustaquio corner, but he made his best stop in the 12th after Canada’s pressure resulted in a giveaway.
Tani Oluwaseyi got the ball at the top of the box, made a sharp turn then fired a low shot that required Bounou to make the save with his outstretched left leg.
By the hydration break, Canada had all four shots, two on target, in the match.
