Ounahi brace punishes Canada as Morocco storm into World Cup quarter-finals

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4 July 2026

Morocco ended Canada's historic

World Cup

knockout debut with a ruthless 3–0 victory in Houston, advancing to the quarter-finals with a devastating second-half display. Despite creating the better first-half chances and dominating set pieces, Jesse Marsch's side could not find a way past Yassine Bounou, who denied Jonathan David twice before

Azzedine Ounahi

struck twice to settle the contest.

Ounahi opened the scoring from a worked set piece at 50 minutes and doubled the lead on the counter-attack at 82 minutes, with Soufiane Rahimi adding a stoppage-time third to complete the rout. GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from

Canada

Morocco

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The midfielder delivered a match-winning performance with both of Morocco's crucial goals in the second half. His opener at 50 minutes came from a composed first-time finish at the edge of the area following Achraf Hakimi's worked set-piece delivery, breaking Canadian resistance at a pivotal moment.

Ounahi's second goal at 82 minutes demonstrated Morocco's counter-attacking threat when

committed forward. He received from Brahim Díaz and finished with precision from outside the box to effectively end the contest as a competition.

Despite collecting a yellow card in first-half stoppage time, the booking did nothing to diminish his influence on proceedings. The brace earned him man-of-the-match recognition and sent

through to face the quarter-final stage once more.

The goalkeeper delivered a commanding display against the country of his birth, making crucial interventions when

threatened in the first half. Bounou denied Jonathan David twice inside the opening 15 minutes, positioning himself superbly to keep out both efforts from the

forward.

His finest moment came at 79 minutes when Tajon Buchanan unleashed a powerful long-range strike that appeared destined for the corner. Bounou stretched fully to palm the ball away for a corner, preserving Morocco's slender advantage at a critical juncture.

The shot-stopper remained composed dealing with crosses and set pieces as

bombarded his area late on. His distribution also helped launch the counter-attacks that produced Morocco's goals, completing a comprehensive display against his birth nation.

The defender endured an afternoon that directly contributed to Morocco's victory. His sliding challenge on Soufiane Rahimi at 49 minutes earned a yellow card and gave

a dangerous free kick opportunity in a central position that they converted moments later through Ounahi.

De Fougerolles' difficulties continued when he committed a costly passing error in the 82nd minute. The misplaced ball was intercepted by

, sparking the counter-attack that ended with Ounahi's second goal to effectively seal Canada's elimination from their first

knockout fixture.

Earlier in the match, his shot from distance flew harmlessly over the crossbar when

needed composure. With

specifically targeting his distribution when pressing, his individual errors proved devastating to Canada's historic knockout ambitions.

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