Morocco crush Canada 3–0, France quarterfinal set for Thursday

Morocco are into the World Cup quarterfinals. Canada 0–3 Morocco in the Round of 16 on Saturday, and it was not remotely close (1) (3).

Brahim Díaz ran the show with two assists. Azzedine Ounahi, Soufiane Rahimi, and Ismael Saibari got the goals. Yassine Bounou kept a clean sheet (3). Mohamed Ouahbi put it simply after the match: "It was about resilience" (1).

Jesse Marsch disagreed with the scoreboard. The Canada coach claimed his side were the better team despite losing by three (5).

France are next. Thursday in Boston (7).

Les Bleus beat Paraguay 1–0 in the early hours of Sunday, Kylian Mbappé scoring from the spot. That penalty moved him ahead of Lionel Messi among the all-time World Cup top scorers (2) (10).

Mbappé was not poetic about the performance. "If you have to get your hands in the dirt, you get your hands in the dirt," he said. He called the win a show of character ahead of facing your team (6).

Chemsedine Talbi is already looking forward to it. "It's a pleasure," he said of drawing France on July 9 (9).

The history between these two nations needs no introduction. The 2022 semifinal was a knife-edge. Now they meet again, this time in Boston, with a semifinal spot on the line.

Fan reactions

The draw is set, and fans are already circling July 9. The France matchup has stirred up memories of 2022 and plenty of confidence. One thread on r/soccer is already buzzing with predictions and tactical breakdowns.