Houston, July 6:
Morocco is heading back to the World Cup quarterfinals and coach Mohamed Ouahbi believes his team has established itself among soccer’s elite.
Azzedine Ounahi scored twice to lead Morocco to a 3-0 win over Canada in the Round of 16 Saturday to make the country the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals more than once.
“We are no longer a surprise,” Ouahbi said through an interpreter. “Now when people talk about Morocco we’re a major contender and it’s a great source of pride. I think it’s only the beginning and I hope we continue to have runs like this.” And despite already making history in this World Cup, Morocco has much higher goals.
“We want to keep going,” Ouahbi said. “We don’t want to stop.” It’s Morocco’s second straight appearance in the final eight after becoming the first African team to reach the semifinals in 2022.
“We are so proud to represent Africa because it’s a continent with a lot of talent and Africa deserves to be in the best level in football,” goalkeeper Yassine Bounou said.Neither team was able to break through until Ounahi took a free kick from Achraf Hakimi and made a right-footed shot through traffic from outside the box to the bottom right corner to put Morocco on top 1-0 in the 50th minute.Ounahi made it 2-0 on a right-footed shot from the middle of the box off a pass from Brahim Diaz in the 82nd minute.
Soufiane Rahimi added a goal in the final minute of stoppage time.Morocco will meet France, which beat Paraguay later Saturday, on Thursday in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The loss ends a historic run for World Cup co-host Canada, which won its first-ever knockout round game, beating South Africa 1-0 to reach Saturday’s match. The country was playing in the World Cup for just the third time and the run enchanted a nation that is normally far more interested in hockey than the pitch. Canada coach Jesse Marsch shared his postgame message to the team.