Soufiane Rahimi scored Morocco’s third goal deep in stoppage time and turned a tense finish into a 3-0 win over Canada in Houston, sending Morocco into the World Cup quarterfinals. The substitute had come on in the 22nd minute after Ismaïla Saibari was forced off injured, and he finished the match with a late header in the 90+8th minute.
That goal mattered because Morocco had already done the hard part by then, and the result carried them into the quarterfinals for the second consecutive World Cup. Azzedine Ounahi had settled the match earlier with two goals, while Soufiane Rahimi’s late strike gave the scoreline its final shape and rewarded a side that had already shown it could survive pressure and still land the decisive blows.
Canada had started fast and made Morocco work from the opening minutes. Bounou had to save a face-to-face chance from Oluwaseyi in the 10th minute, and later he turned away a long-range shot from Tajon Buchanan in the 78th. For long stretches, Morocco did not look like a side in full control. But after Saibari’s injury changed the rhythm of the front line, the game shifted from direct pressure to a more patient setup in which Morocco could absorb, then break.
That shift was clear in the way the goals came. Ounahi opened the scoring in the 58th minute after a free-kick combination with Achraf Hakimi, then struck again in the 82nd minute after a counterattack led by Brahim Diaz. In between, Morocco no longer needed to force the issue. It could wait for Canada to overcommit, use the space behind the pressure, and choose its moments with more precision than in the first half.
Rahimi was part of that second-half control even before he scored. He had a header crash off the crossbar in the 84th minute, a warning that Canada’s resistance was thinning even if the score had not yet reflected it. When he finally scored in the 90+8th minute, it was less a flourish than a final confirmation that Morocco had found another gear after an uneasy start.
Canada’s urgency created chances, but Morocco’s finishing made the difference. Maxime Crépeau was beaten on Ounahi’s first goal and could not stop Rahimi’s late finish, and Morocco left Houston with a scoreline that was broader than the flow of the first half suggested. The next step is already set: Morocco will face the winner of France-Paraguay in the quarterfinal, with a place among the last four now one match away.
