Key events
30 min: Johnston flings long into the Morocco area from the right. De Fougerolles competes too energetically and the whistle goes. Fair to say this match hasn’t quite taken off yet.
29 min: Play restarts, and Morocco’s replacement striker Rahimi has a dig from long range. That’s easy for Crepeau. “The Texans were originally going to be called the Toros – meaning ‘bull’ in Spanish,” begins Ray in Houston. “The team logo is a bull and the team mascot is an anthropomorphic bull called ‘Toro’ (who looks somewhat like a minotaur). So they were walking the easy path to calling the team the Toros. And then they stepped off the path into a pile of bullshit and called the team the ‘Texans’. The Houston Toros is an empirically good name.”
27 min: “Having watched most of this tournament, I’ve been incredibly impressed with the reffing,” begins Kevin D. “Is Michael Oliver over-calling this game already? Are his decisions indicative of what’s wrong with the reffing in the EPL – as opposed to the free-flowing matches that have happened this tournament?” A Premier League referee needlessly inserting himself into the narrative? Now now.
25 min … and that’s drinks! Riesling icewine, made from grapes harvested on icy winter nights, or mint green tea. But who is serving up what?
23 min: Eustaquio floats the free kick into the arms of Bono. Easy for the keeper.
22 min: Saibari can’t continue. Bayern Munich’s new signing is replaced by Rahimi. That’s a big blow for Morocco. Saibari already has three goals to his name in this tournament.
21 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Saibari goes down holding his leg. He’s pulled something.
20 min: Halhal is booked for clipping Oluwaseyi’s heel out on the right touchline. It was a foul for sure; a yellow card seems a bit harsh.
19 min: A speculative long pass down the Canada right nearly sends Buchanan away. Halhal slides across to conceded a corner. Eustaquio loops it in. Johnston connects, but the ball ricochets clear. “The Montreal Canadiens,” announces Nick Oon. “That’s all.”
17 min: Saibari is found in space down the right by Diop’s long rake … but he was clearly offside and the flag eventually pops up.
15 min: Ounahi tries to release Hakimi down the right but Laryea blocks illegally. The free kick’s worked back, and a long ball down the same flank nearly finds Diaz in space, but Crepeau races out of his area to clear. The first Moroccan sortie into Canadian territory.
13 min: Morocco have been strangely meek so far. Canada’s fearsome press is too much for them at the moment. Eustaquio has time and space to shoot from the edge of the D but opts to look for David instead. He should have taken a whack.
11 min: El Aynaoui plays a loose pass out from the back. It’s read and easily intercepted by Ahmed, who advances before slipping a pass down the inside-left by Oluwaseyi. A cute turn on a sixpence, then a shot towards the bottom right. It’s heading in, but stopped by Bono’s outstretched leg. The Moroccan keeper standing firm in these early exchanges, with the rest of his team doing him few favours.
9 min: Morocco calm things down with some more of that passing around at the back (see 3 min). Much good it did them after that, so let’s see how things develop. Meanwhile Kiera Healy would like to address Peter Oh’s complaint about the Houston Texans: “Surely not quite as bad as the India Premier League’s Mumbai Indians, given that every other team in the IPL is also made up of Indians.”
7 min: The presence of De Fougerolles discombobulates the Moroccan defence, but eventually the corner is cleared. That burst of pressure will give Canada great heart. So much for Morocco’s early authority!
6 min: Diop clears the second corner in the sequence, but Canada have found some rhythm, and a third is won down the right. Eustaquio to send it in.
5 min: Laryea embarks on a power dribble down the left, through a couple of half-hearted challenges, winning the game’s first corner. Eustaquio whips it in dangerously, forcing Bono to punch powerfully clear. But the ball comes straight back at Morocco, down the inside-left channel. David’s first touch isn’t great, taking him wide left. He swivels and shoots, forcing Bono to turn behind for another corner.
3 min: Morocco stroke it around the back in the calm manner, establishing a bit of early authority.
1 min: There was a false start with Johnson haring into the Moroccan half too early. On the second attempt, Canada immediately lose the ball, so how happy they’ll be about all that is debatable. Bouaddi tries to release Diaz down the right but the Real Madrid winger knew he was offside so didn’t move.
Canada get the ball rolling. A good old noise in this indoor atmosphere-controlled Houston Stadium. It’s a lot cooler inside than out.
The teams are out! Both normally play in red shirts, so they’re both in their second-choice garb today: Canada in black, Morocco in white. The anthems all standing on guard for thee and heading for grandeur. Fair play to one and all. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Pre-match postbag. “I’m 100% confident that our boys will do it today and keep the Moroccan flag flying high. I’m not so sure they can get past France if they do win today but who knows … anyway, great days for Moroccan football” – Yac Semmar
“Morocco makes me think back to a fellow named Mohammed who played occasionally in my beer-league ice hockey in Montreal (think pub team in football terminology), Mo was a talented player…. as it turns out he was once a member of the Moroccan national ice hockey team. I imagine he’s taking in the match, perhaps conflicted on what side to support. A problem I don’t have as the Azzurri didn’t qualify, again. Forza Canadesi!” – Domenic Boscariol
“I agree the Canada pennant is needlessly repetitive but compare that to name of the NFL team that plays at this stadium: Houston Texans. Houston is in Texas. Check. People in Texas are Texans. OK. All well and good, but come on! That is the best name they could come up with?” – Peter Oh
The prize on offer today is a quarter-final against either Paraguay or France. There’s a cheap strikethrough gag begging to be made there, and goodness knows we’re cheap and jaded enough to usually do it. But nobody’s taking anything for granted after Argentina’s scrape with disaster against the heroic and inspired Cape Verde. Here’s how last night’s instant-classic antics went down in Rotterdam, where six of the Blue Sharks were born.
It’s the big pennant showdown … and it’s as good as a walkover for Morocco. Achraf Hakimi will hand over this uniquely shaped artefact that almost literally drips with beauty. The Arabic script translates as Royal Moroccan Football Federation, so there’s no detail anywhere of today’s fixture and opponent; unfortunately that’s one point docked. However two bonus points are awarded for the sheer elegance of Arabic script. Total score: 11 out of 10.
This however doesn’t pass muster. Untidy tassels, and is there any need to be shouting CANADA? We know it’s Canada, the logo’s told us that already. Total score: four out of 10 (FOUR OUT OF TEN).
Morocco make one change to their starting XI from the game against the Netherlands. Redouane Halhal takes the place of Chadi Riad at centre-back. Riad picked up a knee injury in that last-32 match, but is on the bench nonetheless.
Canada captain and star man Alphonso Davies, battling back from long-term injury, starts on the bench again, having come on to good effect against South Africa. Jesse Marsch makes three changes following that last-32 victory. Luc de Fougerolles and Niko Sigur come into a five-man defence, while Norwich City’s Ali Ahmed augments the attack. Derek Cornelius, Liam Millar and Nathan Saliba step down.
The teams
Canada: Crepeau, Johnston, De Fougerolles, Bombito, Laryea, Buchanan, Sigur, Stephen Eustaquio, Ahmed, Jonathan David, Oluwaseyi.
Subs: St. Clair, Goodman, Jones, Waterman, Choiniere, Larin, Millar, Cornelius, Shaffelburg, Davies, Osorio, Promise David, Saliba, Nelson.
Morocco: Bounou, Hakimi, Diop, Halhal, Mazraoui, Bouaddi, El Aynaoui, Diaz, Ounahi, El Khannous, Saibari.
Subs: Mohamedi, Tagnaouti, Amrabat, Saadane, Talbi, Rahimi, El Ouahdi, El Mourabet, Yassine, Sbai, Riad, Belammari, El Kaabi, Amaimouni-Echghouyab, Saleh-Eddine.
Referee: Michael Oliver (England).
Canada have played Morocco on four previous occasions. They’ve yet to win. Three of those matches were friendlies: Morocco won 3-2 in 1984 and 4-0 in 2016, while the countries drew 1-1 in 1984. The only competitive fixture came in the last World Cup, when Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri scored the goals that won Morocco their group and set them off on their journey to the semis.
Morocco were the best performers in Group C. But they didn’t win it, because they failed to put Brazil away while in the ascendancy during a 1-1 draw. It took they 70 seconds to see off Scotland. And they toyed with ignominy against Haiti but eventually overpowered the underdogs 4-2.
They were on the brink of going out in the Round of 16 against the Netherlands. Issa Diop rescued them with a stoppage-time header, and the Atlas Lions went on to win a topsy-turvy penalty contest.
Canada made it out of Group B easily enough. A 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina. A six-goal rout of Qatar that was soured by a bad injury to Ismaël Koné. A 2-1 defeat to Switzerland that lost them home advantage.
Then in the round of 16 they ground out victory over South Africa. Stephen Eustáquio was their last-gasp hero.
Here are the pre-tournament team guides, the view from the outset. Reread! Reacquaint! Reassess!
Preamble
Whatever happens to Canada now – within comedic/catastrophic reason – this World Cup will go down as an unqualified success. So far, they’ve won their first match at a finals; they’ve qualified from a group for the first time; and they’ve won a knockout game at their very first attempt. Nobody’s seriously expecting Jesse Marsch’s team to win the whole darn thing, so the co-hosts will be approaching everything from here on in as a free hit. Any more success will/should be considered an extremely pleasant bonus.
Morocco will be setting their sights a little higher. Four years ago, the Atlas Lions broke through all sorts of barriers: not only was their fourth-place finish their best at a World Cup by some distance, in doing so they became both the first African and Arab nation to reach the semi-final stage. Since then, they’ve won (well, been awarded) the Africa Cup of Nations; in four years time, they’ll co-host the World Cup. It’s a banner period for them, and currently ranked sixth in the world – ahead of historical powerhouses Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy, and only behind five previous World Cup champions – they’ll see no reason why they can’t go super-deep again.
Of course, one of the hot favourites in France would (probably) be next … and Canada are perfectly capable of pulling of a shock as well. Super-deep is far from nailed-on for Morocco, and this game is by no means a gimme, so with its swirly mix of expectation, relaxation, likelihood and sort-of-home-crowd advantage, today’s round-of-16 tie is almost perfectly set up for FUN. Let’s hope it delivers; there’s no reason on earth why it shouldn’t. Kick off in Houston, Texas is at midday local time, 1pm EDT, 6pm BST and 3am AEST. It’s on!
