Morocco’s New Hero Sends Atlas Lions Into World Cup Quarter-Finals

When Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi reviews the opening 45 minutes of this ultimately emphatic win in Houston, he may feel even surer that his team have the resilience to reach a World Cup final.

For the first half against Canada, Morocco looked nothing like themselves. They bickered, lacked cohesion and appeared disconnected across the pitch — as poor as anyone might have imagined.

Teenage talent Ayyoub Bouaddi barely influenced proceedings, while key figure Ismael Saibari looked close to tears after a hamstring problem forced him off. Even captain Achraf Hakimi was largely pushed to the margins.

For the first time in their World Cup history, they failed to register a shot inside the opening 25 minutes and headed back to the dressing room with an expected goals figure of just 0.02.

Ouahbi clearly delivered the response required, while his players also gathered for a private huddle in the tunnel before the restart. By the time they returned to the dressing room after 98 minutes, they looked transformed from the side that had trudged in at half-time.

Two goals from Azzedine Ounahi and another from substitute Soufiane Rahimi decided this last-16 contest, with flashes of real quality tearing through Canada’s carefully prepared tactical plan.

Adversity did not fracture Morocco here, just as it did not against the Netherlands when an early exit loomed. And it is unlikely to do so in the quarter-final, whether the opponent is France or Paraguay.

BELIEVE IN BRAHIM

Brahim Diaz is used to pressure having turned out for Real Madrid, Manchester City, and AC Milan.

He’s a Champions League winner, a Premier League winner, a two-time LaLiga winner, a Super Cup winner, a Serie A winner, an Africa Cup of Nations winner, you get the idea.

So to see him questioned by Moroccan media in the lead-up to this game was bordering on the remarkable.

‘He is in a good place and is one of our best players. He is relaxed, and so am I,’ Ouahbi said. How pleased he’ll have been to see Diaz fire the perfect message to his critics in Houston.

Diaz, the outstanding player at the 2025 ‌Africa Cup of Nations where he finished as tournament top scorer, took over this second half and took responsibility when his side was searching for its leaders to step forward.

First he teed up Ounahi for his and Morocco’s second goal with a perfectly weighted cutback, then came the final-second breakaway when his through ball was turned in by Rahimi, taking his tournament total to four assists. Only France’s Michael Olise has more (5).

‘With major players, we are always expecting more from them,’ Ouahbi said, ‘but he does not need to be a game-changer every single day.’

Diaz, who now has the most assists of ANY African player in World Cup history, was questioned and answered the call. Ouahbi will be delighted.

COPING WITHOUT SAIBARI

The black mark against this victory for Morocco centres on whether Saibari’s tournament is over or not.

With Saibari flat on his back, he pulled up his shirt, desperate for cameras not to see the tears that looked set to inevitably flow as his game, and maybe tournament, was cut short.

Bayern Munich’s latest signing, who scored in all three group stage games, was clutching his right hamstring and, if that is any more than the most minor of tweaks, it appears inevitable that Saibari’s World Cup is over and done with.

The fact Morocco scored with all three of their shots on target in the second half is a positive and will be the type of clinical nature Morocco will need to sustain if Saibari is missing from the line-up.

Rahimi was a willing runner and his hold-up was crucial to helping Morocco get up the pitch when they began turning the screw.

But if Saibari is out, things have to change. Morocco will hope the second half against Canada put down a blueprint on how to succeed without their star man at the point of their attack.

CANADA STAR POWER

Jesse Marsch sat on a drinks cooler, with his head resting in the palm of his left hand, struggling to understand how Canada had done so much right, only to get the most important part wrong to exit the World Cup.

This Morocco team, unbeaten in 33 games, stretching all the way back to a defeat to Kenya in August 2025, have ‘literally zero weaknesses’ Marsch said in the build-up.

And yet Marsch had a plan. Back once again as the underdogs, Marsch had a trick or two up his sleeve.

For 45 minutes the plan worked flawlessly in Houston, restricting Morocco to nothing of any value.

But, truth be told, Canada didn’t have enough creativity, enough invention, enough flair, enough star power to turn brilliant execution out of possession to the decisive moment when they did have the ball.

When the ball left Ounahi’s boot, picked out cleverly from a Morocco free-kick five minutes into the second half, the dynamic of this contest changed.

Canada’s disciplined 4-4-2 that had made Morocco look increasingly normal waned. They had to turn the screw and lacked the quality or invention to do so.

And so it became stretched. It became open. It became the type of game Morocco wanted all along. It became easy for Morocco.

Goals two and three did not tell the story of the game but at this level, reality checks are often brutal and this was no exception for Canada.

The second was a gift as Canada overcommitted chasing an equaliser and it was Ounahi who converted after a swift four-on-three break.

And then, in the closing seconds, the 98th minute, came the third. A real dagger. The reality check.

By this point Canada were sending their goalkeeper up with reckless abandon and Rahimi, teed up by Diaz, put the cherry on top after another breakaway goal.

Canada’s plan worked exceptionally well to nullify Morocco for 45 minutes. But eventually the onus will fall on you and your players to produce a moment or two of magic.

That was what separated the sides and is what Canada will need if they are to mirror what Morocco have done in back-to-back World Cups. At this level you need star power – and Canada simply don’t have it.