As Mohamed Ouahbi, the Moroccan manager, revisits the first half of their heavy defeat in Houston, he’ll likely be even more certain of his team’s potential to reach the World Cup final.
During the opening 45 minutes against Canada, Morocco seemed to lose their identity. The players bickered among themselves and appeared disjointed on the field, performing worse than anyone might have anticipated.
Young sensation Ayyoub Bouaddi was barely noticeable, and the team’s key player, Ismael Saibari, struggled with a hamstring injury, nearly in tears when he had to leave the game. Meanwhile, captain Achraf Hakimi was largely sidelined from the action.
It marked a historical low for Morocco, as they failed to register even a single shot in the first 25 minutes of a World Cup match, entering the halftime break with a meager 0.02 expected goals (xG).
Ouahbi spurred his team into action, prompting a players-only huddle in the tunnel before they returned to the pitch for the second half. The transformation of the team by the end of the 98-minute game was astonishing compared to their lackluster first-half performance.
A brace from Azzedine Ounahi and one from substitute Soufiane Rahimi, settled this last-16 tie. Moments of genuine quality that undid all of Canada’s carefully constructed game-planning.
Strife didn’t break Morocco, just like it didn’t break them against the Netherlands when they were staring an early exit in the face. Just like it won’t break them in the quarter-final against France or Paraguay.
A brace from Azzedine Ounahi helped fire Morocco into the quarter-finals of the World Cup
It was despair for Jesse Marsch (centre) and his Canada side after a strong first 45 minutes
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.
Brahim Diaz bagged two assists, meaning no African player has more in World Cup history
Morocco will however be sweating on the fitness of star man Ismael Saibari after he went off
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.
Canada’s players were diligent off the ball but need more star power and invention on it
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.