HOUSTON (AP) — 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.
It’s Morocco’s second straight appearance in the quarterfinals after becoming the first African team to reach the semifinals in 2022.
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 DÃaz in the 82nd minute.
Soufiane Rahimi added another goal in the final minute of stoppage time.
Morocco advances to face the winner of Saturday’s Paraguay-France match on Thursday at Boston Stadium.
The loss ends a historic run for World Cup co-host Canada, which won its first-ever knockout round to reach Saturday’s match.
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