Canada face unbeaten Morocco in first World Cup last-16 match
Cohosts Canada play Morocco in Houston on Saturday, with a quarterfinal against France or Paraguay awaiting the winner.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Canada will play the first men’s World Cup last-16 match in its history on Saturday when it faces Morocco in Houston, Al Jazeera reported. The match gives the cohosts a chance to extend a tournament in which they have already recorded their first World Cup point and first World Cup win.
Al Jazeera reported that the round-of-16 game is scheduled for Houston Stadium in Texas at noon local time, 17:00 GMT. The winner will meet either France or Paraguay in the quarterfinals in Boston on Thursday.
How the teams arrived
Canada reached this stage after finishing second in Group B with four points, according to Al Jazeera. Jesse Marsch’s team beat Qatar, drew with Bosnia and Herzegovina and lost to Switzerland before defeating South Africa 1-0 in the round of 32.
Morocco also finished second in its group, taking seven points in Group C, Al Jazeera reported. The African champions beat Scotland and Haiti, drew with Brazil and then advanced past the Netherlands after a late equaliser and a 3-2 penalty shootout win.
Al Jazeera described Morocco as unbeaten at the tournament and noted that the team reached the semifinals at the previous World Cup, becoming the first Arab and African side to do so. Canada enter as underdogs, sitting 24 places below sixth-ranked Morocco in the FIFA rankings, according to Al Jazeera.
Saibari leads Morocco’s threat
Canada will have to account for Ismael Saibari, whom Al Jazeera identified as Morocco’s leading scorer at the tournament with three goals. Saibari, a new Bayern Munich signing, also scored the decisive penalty against the Netherlands.
Marsch said preparing for Morocco was “like a gory, horrible nightmare,” according to Al Jazeera. He added: “We want to be here and we expect to be here. So we know that everybody’s going to write us off, and in that is an opportunity.”
Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi warned that one poor performance could end his team’s campaign, Al Jazeera reported. “If we get things wrong, we’ll go home,” he said. “We need to ensure that we have all the tools and we’re using the tools in our arsenal to go as far as we can.”
Team news and viewing
Al Jazeera reported that Canada midfielder Ismael Kone is out with a broken ankle. Alphonso Davies made his first appearance of the tournament as a 75th-minute substitute against South Africa and could start against Morocco, while Al Jazeera said no injuries had been reported in the Morocco squad.
The Opta supercomputer gives Morocco a 52.7% chance of winning in regulation time, compared with 21.7% for Canada, according to Al Jazeera. Opta put the chance of extra time at 25.6%.
Al Jazeera listed the broadcast details as RDS, TSN and Crave in Canada at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; beIN SPORTS in Morocco at 6 p.m. Morocco Standard Time; and FOX, FOX One, the Telemundo App, Telemundo Network and Peacock in the United States at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
The teams have met four times, with Morocco winning three and one match ending in a draw, according to Al Jazeera. Canada have yet to beat Morocco, who won their most recent meeting 2-1 in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.