Canada calm ahead of World Cup round-of-16 game against ‘Goliath’ Morocco

HOUSTON — This is exactly where Canada wanted to be at this summer’s FIFA World Cup — in the knockout round, preparing to take on one of the globe’s best.

The national squad knows it will face its toughest test yet when it meets Morocco in the round of 16 in Houston on Saturday.

It’s an exciting moment for veteran defender Alistair Johnston.

“We’ve been pushing so much, we’ve created so much new history, so many firsts,” he said on Friday. “We wanted to make sure that we got to the point of the tournament where we’re gonna get to play an actual Goliath, and that’s what this Morocco team is.

“It’s about going out there, enjoying it, understanding that the whole world’s gonna be watching. So let’s go out there and put our best foot forward and put in a performance that we can be proud of.”

The winner of Saturday’s game will meet either Paraguay or France in a quarterfinal matchup in Boston on July 9.

Morocco entered the tournament sitting seventh in FIFA’s rankings while Canada was No. 30.

The Canadians advanced with a 1-0 victory over South Africa on Sunday, thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Stephen Eustaquio. The result was their first-ever win in a knockout game at a men’s World Cup.

Johnston takes confidence in knowing that he and his teammates have faced some of the toughest talents and teams in recent years.

“We know that if we play our football, if everyone’s committed to that, we can beat anyone in the world,” the centre back said. “But we also know that if we’re off, all it takes is one guy, we can lose to anyone. And I think that that’s a really humbling experience, but also a great motivating thing.”

The Atlas Lions are unbeaten in their last 33 games, and have already come up against some global soccer giants in the tournament. They started the group stage with a 1-1 draw against Brazil before besting the Netherlands on penalties in the round of 32.

Canada head coach Jesse Marsch was in Monterrey, Mexico, to watch the game and said what he saw was a Moroccan side that played with confidence and swagger.

“When you talk about Morocco, you’re talking about a team with incredible individual talent, really well organized, a great structure, but yet fluidity in which they play, which I think really accesses the quality of their players,” he said.

“We would be foolish to expect anything but Morocco’s best … I expect their best performance of the tournament.”

Morocco has a Canadian connection in Yassine Bounou. The star goalkeeper, known as Bono, was born in Montreal and moved to the North African nation as a child.

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi remains in the Moroccan squad after a French appeals court confirmed last month that he will stand trial in a rape case.

A 24-year-old woman has said she was raped by Hakimi at his home in a Paris suburb. Hakimi, the team captain, has denied any wrongdoing.

The Atlas Lions are not about to take the Canadians lightly.

Head coach Mohamed Ouahbi said he’s told his players Saturday’s matchup will be the most important and the most difficult of the tournament.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game, a very challenging game. They know it, we know it,” the Belgian-Moroccan coach said in French via an interpreter.

“We have a great deal of respect for this team. We have every reason to fear it and its qualities.”

The two nations previously met in the 2022 World Cup, when Morocco took a 2-1 decision in Qatar in the group stage. Morocco was a breakout star at the tournament, and earned a spot in the semifinals before being dispatched by eventual runners-up France.

“I remember it was a hard game, a very good team, a very fit team also,” said Moroccan midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. “I think that was a big boost for us. I think it was even maybe one of the hardest games in the group stage.”

Both teams have changed over the past four years, bringing in new coaches, rotating players and tweaking identities.

“I think it’s clear that we’re doing very well,” Amrabat said. “The mentality has always been good. We are very humble, always. As you give everything, you work hard, you give everything, everything is possible.”

For Johnston, there’s a sense of calm heading into Saturday’s game that he didn’t have when Canada lined up to face Morocco in Qatar.

He knows the sport he loves won’t suddenly change when the whistle sounds. It’s a message he’s sharing with his teammates.

“I’ve been trying to tell the guys, ‘Look, play the game, not the occasion,'” he said.

“It’s going to be loud, there’s going to be noises that you didn’t even know were possible to be made in a stadium that will be made, and it’s going to be unbelievably tough just to focus out there. So just remember that we’re all in this together.’

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press