World Cup 2026: Unbeaten in 34 matches – are Morocco serious World Cup contenders
In the meeting of the two sides currently blessed with the talents of the golden generations, the shining side was the Moroccans.
Canada’s injured Alphonso Davies was left helpless on the bench as Morocco neutralized Stephen Eustaquio’s dangerous pass and sent off star striker Jonathan David.
Meanwhile, Moroccan captain Achraf Hakimi, arguably the best right-back in the world, posed a constant threat both on the ball and in the faces of Canadian players, while creative mainstay Brahim Diaz had two assists. They currently have four players in World Cups; This is the highest among African players.
“The first half was very intense,” Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said in the post-match media conference.
“There were a few adjustments to be made at half-time. We never recovered from the pressure.
“The important thing is that we didn’t change our identity, we didn’t change our playing philosophy. There were a lot of ideas floating around and we chose the best.
“We are playing in the World Cup, which means there will be difficult moments. The important thing is that we are resilient when we are not at our best. We must remember who we are playing for and what we are playing for.”
That was more than enough to send Morocco into the men’s World Cup quarter-finals for the second consecutive year, as did Qatar with a five-game lead.
Morocco has won four World Cup qualifying matches so far (two in 2022, two in 2026), which is as many as all other African countries combined.
If they get another win, they will officially have the same performance at the 2022 World Cup, where they became the first African country to reach the semi-finals.
So Morocco is among the contenders, but there is a feeling that they have not yet been tested to their full potential.
They drew against Brazil in their opening match and compared their wins against Scotland and Haiti; The first was a hard-fought contest after a goal scored within two minutes, the second was a frantic 4-2 scoreline against free-wheeling, already eliminated foes.
They were the better team against the Netherlands in the round of 32 but needed a header in injury time to avoid elimination. They were then comfortable against Canada, but it wasn’t a quality win that would clear any doubts ahead of a possible meeting with France in the last eight.
