HOUSTON — Azzedine Ounahi scored twice to lead Morocco to a 3-0 win over Canada in the World Cup round of 16 Saturday to make the country the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals more than once.
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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 Díaz in the 82nd minute.
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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 with a 1-0 victory over South Africa to reach Saturday’s match.
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