World Cup cohosts Canada hope to extend dream run, but Morocco test awaits

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Who: Canada vs Morocco
What: FIFA World Cup ۲۰۲۶ – Round of ۱۶
Where: Houston Stadium, Texas, US
When: Saturday, July ۴, at noon (۱۷:۰۰ GMT)
How to follow: We will have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from ۱۴:۰۰ GMT before our live text commentary stream.

The Round of ۱۶ gets under way on Saturday with World Cup cohosts Canada taking on Morocco in Houston, Texas.

It marks a historic day for Canadian football, with the men’s team set to play in the last-۱۶ for the first time in their history, thanks to a dramatic late victory over South Africa.

But in their bid to extend a dream run, Canada face a daunting challenge against Morocco, who stunned the Netherlands on penalties to punch their ticket to this round.

The African champions, semifinalists of the last edition, are unbeaten at this year’s tournament and have grown stronger with every game.

Al Jazeera tells you everything about Canada vs Morocco:

How did Canada and Morocco reach the Round of ۱۶?

Canada came second in Group B with four points, securing a win over Qatar and a draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina. They lost to Switzerland in the final group game. The Canadians beat South Africa ۱-۰ in the round of ۳۲.

Morocco were second in Group C with seven points, winning against Scotland and Haiti, and holding Brazil to a draw. In the Round of ۳۲, they scored a late equaliser to force the game to extra time before beating the Netherlands ۳-۲ in a thrilling shootout.

Can Canada pass the Moroccan test to extend dream run?

Canada are the underdogs in this last-۱۶ game, sitting ۲۴ places below world number six Morocco in the FIFA rankings. But after breaking numerous records at the tournament – including earning their first World Cup point and winning their first game – their campaign is nothing less than a success.

“Preparing for Morocco is like a gory, horrible nightmare,” coach Jesse Marsch said. “[But] we want to be here and we expect to be here. So we know that everybody’s going to write us off, and in that is an ⁠opportunity.”

For Morocco, the game against Canada is just another hurdle in the deep run they are hoping for this summer in North America. Four years on from stunning Spain and Portugal to become the first Arab and African nation to reach the semifinals, Morocco have arrived with bigger ambitions and increased expectations.

“If we get things wrong, we’ll go ‌home,” ‌Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi said. “We need to ensure that we have all the tools and we’re using the tools in our arsenal to go as far as we can.”

Canada will be wary of Morocco’s talismanic forward Ismael Saibari, their top scorer with three goals and the newly signed Bayern Munich player who also scored the winning spot-kick to send them to the round of ۱۶.

Canada vs Morocco prediction

The Opta supercomputer gives Morocco a ۵۲.۷ percent likelihood of winning in regulation time, while Canada is at ۲۱.۷ percent.

The model estimates a ۲۵.۶ percent probability of the game going to extra time.

Canada vs Morocco: Kickoff time, TV channel

• Canada: RDS, TSN, Crave (۱pm, Eastern Daylight Time)
• Morocco: beIN SPORTS (۶pm, Morocco Standard Time)
• USA: FOX, FOX One, Telemundo App, Telemundo Network, Peacock (۱pm, Eastern Daylight Time)

To check the TV listings for your country, head to FIFA’s TV listing schedule here.

Who will the winner face in the quarterfinals?

The winner of the Canada vs Morocco match will face either France or Paraguay in the quarterfinals in Boston on Thursday.

Canada vs Morocco: Head-to-head

The two teams have met four times, with Morocco winning on three occasions, while one game ended in a draw.

Canada are winless against Morocco, who won ۲-۱ in their last meeting, a group game at the ۲۰۲۲ World Cup in Qatar.

Canada vs Morocco: Team news

Ismael Kone is out with a broken ankle. Alphonso Davies played his first minutes at the tournament in the last game as a ۷۵th-minute substitute and could start against Morocco.

No injuries have been reported in the Morocco camp.

Canada’s predicted lineup

(۴-۴-۲): Crepeau (goalkeeper); Johnston, Bombito, Cornelius, Laryea; Buchanan, Saliba, Eustaquio, Millar; Oluwaseyi, David

Morocco’s predicted lineup

(۴-۲-۳-۱): Bono (goalkeeper); Hakimi, Diop, Riad, Mazraoui; Bouaddi, El Aynaoui; Diaz, Ounahi, El Khannouss, Saibari