Atlas Lions roll on: Morocco sweep aside Canada to reach a second straight quarter-final

Morocco beat co-hosts Canada 3-0 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the second consecutive tournament. Canada dominated a feisty first half but could not score, and Azzedine Ounahi struck twice after the break, with Brahim Díaz providing two assists and Soufiane Rahimi adding a late third. Africa's flagbearer marches on.

Morocco are into the last eight again, and they did it in style. The Atlas Lions eased past co-hosts Canada 3-0 in Houston to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the second tournament running, a statement that their run to the semi-finals in 2022 was no one-off. Africa has a standard-bearer, and it is a very good one.

It did not look so simple at half-time. Canada, roared on by a home crowd, started with real energy and aggression, pressing hard, winning corner after corner and outshooting Morocco in a feisty opening period that produced five yellow cards. But for all their intensity, they could not find a goal, and the game turned on that failure.

Morocco were clinical when it mattered. Five minutes into the second half Azzedine Ounahi slotted a low finish into the corner from a clever Achraf Hakimi free-kick routine, and on eighty-two he rocketed a second into the top corner, sent clear by Brahim Díaz on a lethal counter. Deep into stoppage time substitute Soufiane Rahimi added a composed third, Brahim Díaz turning provider once more.

Brahim Díaz was the game's creative hub with two assists, and Yassine Bounou barely had a save to make once Morocco found their rhythm. The tiring Canadians, so full of running early, were picked apart on the break by a side with far more quality in the final third.

For Canada, it is the end of a spirited home World Cup. Jesse Marsch's side gave everything and can be proud of reaching the last 16 as co-hosts, but they ran into an African heavyweight in ominous form. For Morocco, the conquerors of the Netherlands in the last round, the quarter-finals await, and belief is growing that they can go even further than four years ago.

For Kenya, this is a red-letter day. Morocco carry the hopes of an entire continent, and to see them stroll into the quarter-finals, playing with such control and class, is a source of enormous pride. After a knockout round that saw Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Senegal, Algeria and Cape Verde all fall, the Atlas Lions and Egypt keep the African flag flying high. Simba wa Atlas wako robo fainali tena, bara zima liko nyuma yao: the Atlas Lions are in the quarter-finals again, and the whole continent is behind them. Our Africa verdict always believed, and our CONCACAF verdict salutes a brave Canada.