Morocco beat Canada 3-0 in Houston on Saturday to become the first team at the World Cup to progress to the quarterfinals. Two goals from Azzedine Ounahi in the 50th and 82nd minutes and one from Soufiane Rahimi at the death made the difference for the Atlas Lions.

Game Highlights

Canada started the game brightly, pressing Morocco very successfully and threatening its goal frequently throughout the first quarter of the match. However, Morocco’s Yassine Bounou made a great save to deny Canada’s Tani Oluwaseyi in the 11th minute.

Morocco’s star midfielder Ismael Saibari left the pitch injured in the 23rd minute with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Despite this, Morocco produced its first attempt of the match in the 29th minute, though Soufiane Rahimi’s shot was easily saved by Maxime Crepeau.

The match rhythm stayed the same until the 39th minute when Achraf Hakimi pushed Canada’s Richie Laryea in the back, sparking a bit of a tussle which resulted in yellow cards from referee Michael Oliver for both players involved.

The second half began much as the first period ended with Canada in control and Morocco seeming aimless, but things changed almost in an instant. Against the run of play, the Atlas Lions won a free kick near the corner of the box after Luc De Fougerolles was booked for a cynical challenge. Hakimi took the resultant free kick, playing it to Ounahi in front of the box, and the midfielder curled the ball into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0.

Morocco put the game away in the 82nd minute on an impressive counterattack. Real Madrid attacker Brahim Díaz went into the right side of the box, dragging two defenders with him before laying the ball back to Ounahi to clinically score his brace.

Morocco eventually got its third of the night with Rahimi shooting across goal past Crepeau to put a flourish on the Atlas Lions’ performance.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.