Ounahi fires Morocco into World Cup quarterfinals with 3

Azzedine Ounahi scored twice to help fire Morocco to a 3-0 win over Canada in the World Cup Round of 16 as The Atlas Lions became the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals more than once.

It is Morocco’s second consecutive appearance in the last eight after becoming the first African team to reach the semifinals in 2022.

Canada dominated the opening stages but neither team was able to break through on Saturday until the Moroccans scored in the 50th minute. Ounahi received a free kick from Achraf Hakimi and fired a right-footed shot through traffic from outside the box into the bottom right corner.

Ounahi made it 2-0 with a right-footed shot from the middle of the box after a pass from Brahim Díaz aftr a quick counterattack in the 82nd minute.

Soufiane Rahimi – who came on for injured forward Ismael Saibari after just 22 minutes – added the third in the final minute of stoppage time.

Morocco will face the winner of Saturday’s other tie – Paraguay vs France – in Boston on Thursday.

Canada’s loss ends a historic run for the World Cup cohosts, who won their first-ever knockout round match 1-0 against South Africa. The Canadians were playing in the World Cup for just the third time and their run enchanted a nation normally far more interested in hockey than football.

Morocco, ranked sixth in the FIFA rankings, dispatched the Netherlands in a penalty shootout to reach the Round of 16 and send the Dutch to their earliest World Cup exit.

It was an extremely physical match with eight yellow cards being issued. Both teams received four.

Canada had a couple of chances to score late. Jonathan David had a free kick from outside the box in the 78th minute, but his shot sailed over the crossbar.

Just after that, Tajon Buchanan’s shot from about 30 yards was stopped by a diving save from goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. He was born in Canada to Moroccan parents and made three saves to help Morocco secure their win.

This game was a rematch from the last World Cup in Qatar, when Morocco beat Canada 2-1 in the group stage to go on to finish fourth.