Canada's World Cup dream faces defining challenge against Morocco

The Canadian men’s team has already eliminated one African nation at the FIFA World Cup, but another one stands in its way in order to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Canada defeated South Africa last weekend in Los Angeles in the round of 32 to record its first-ever win in a World Cup knockout match. Though Canada is ranked No. 30 in the world, it struggled to break down 60th-ranked South Africa, needing an injury-time goal from co-captain Stephen Eustáquio to book its passage through to the round of 16. 

Next up for Canada is No. 6 Morocco, the reigning African Cup of Nations holders who beat the Netherlands in a dramatic penalty shootout in the previous round. 

Make no mistake about it: Morocco will be Canada’s toughest test to date at this World Cup. The Atlas Lions were semifinalists in 2022 in Qatar and took seven out of nine points during the group stage of this year’s World Cup before dispatching a Dutch side that was ranked No. 8 in the world. 

"I called preparing for Switzerland (in the group stage) a horror show, but preparing for Morocco is like a gory, horrible nightmare. I don't want to watch them play – they're too good,” Canadian coach Jesse Marsch quipped.  

“We want to be here, and we expect to be here; that's our expectation. We know that everybody's going to write us off, but in that's an opportunity. In the end we are focused on trying to really be our best for this match and deliver the best performance of our lives, and that can give us a chance.”  

Here are three things to look for in Saturday’s round of 16 match between Canada and Morocco at NRG Stadium in Houston.  

What role will Alphonso Davies play on Saturday? 

Fifteen minutes was all it took for Alphonso Davies to make an impact for Canada at the World Cup after watching from the sidelines.  

The Canadian captain missed the first three games of the tournament as he was still fighting to regain fitness from a longstanding injury before being subbed on late in the match against South Africa. 

Davies’ status leading into the World Cup and during the group stage of the tournament was one of the biggest questions facing Canada. The Bayern Munich star hadn’t played a single game since the second leg of the UEFA Champions League in early May, and he hadn’t featured for his country since March 2025, when he tore his ACL in the Concacaf Nations League finals. 

But Davies showed no signs of rust following his introduction into the contest against South Africa. Within seconds of stepping onto the pitch, Davies set up fellow substitute Promise David, who dragged his shot from 20 yards out just wide of the post. Moments later, Davies found Jonathan David inside the box with a clever pass and the Juventus forward blasted an angled shot that was parried away by South Africa’s goalkeeper.  

While most of Canada’s attacking forays up to that point came through the middle and down the right wing, it suddenly was making inroads along the left flank courtesy of Davies. As a result, South Africa turned a lot of its attention on trying to stop Davies, thus opening up spaces and opportunities for his Canadian teammates.  

Now more than ever, Canada needs Davies – it needs its best player to take on Morocco. The question is: How much can he play? 

Are we talking about another 15-minute cameo? Thirty minutes? Can he come on at the start of the second half? Dare, we suggest it: Can he be included in the starting lineup? 

Jesse Marsch wasn’t tipping his hand when speaking to reporters earlier this week. 

“He feels really good. He had a good impact on the (Round of 32) game. More than anything, what you saw is that South Africa really respected him when he came in, and they became a little bit more passive on that side of the pitch. We will be thinking about how to use Alphonso again (vs. Morocco), whether from the start or off the bench, to best suit what we want from our team and to best threaten the opponent.” 

Canada can’t be wasteful in front of the net vs. Morocco 

With nine goals through its opening four games, Canada ranks among the top scoring nations at this World Cup – but its goal-scoring record comes with an asterisk.  

All but three of those goals came in a 6-0 win over Qatar, one of the lowest ranked nations at the World Cup, in a group stage game in Vancouver when the Qataris had two players sent off. 

Aside from that anomaly, Canada has yet to score more than one goal in a single match, needing to come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, falling short in a 2-1 loss to Switzerland and leaving it late in a 1-0 win over South Africa. 

In each contest, Canada had chances to take the lead but spurned some glorious scoring opportunities. In the first half vs. South Africa, an unmarked Derek Cornelius should have buried a header from close range off a free kick from Stephen Eustáquio, only to see his tame attempt easily saved by goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. 

Had Cornelius converted, the Canadians could have won in a far more comfortable fashion. Instead, they had to sweat it out and only pulled out a victory thanks to Eustáquio’s injury time heroics. 

Squandering scoring opportunities against South Africa is one thing. Bafana Bafana simply didn’t have the quality in attack to make Canada pay for its wastefulness in front of goal.  

Canada won’t have that same luxury against Morocco – the margin of error won’t be nearly the same against the reigning African champions who have the star power to punish Canada. 

Morocco’s roster includes nine players from its World Cup semifinal run in Qatar in 2022, highlighted by Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi, one of the best fullbacks in the world who has scored at this tournament. They also boast Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz and attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari, who just signed with Bayern Munich. Saibari has scored three goals at this World Cup, while Diaz has registered two assists.  

Niko Sigur could get his first 1st start of the World Cup 

After the Netherlands’ loss to Morocco, FC Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong talked about how he felt that he and Dutch teammate Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool were overwhelmed by Morocco in central midfield.  

Canada also plays with two central midfielders, albeit in a different system, but it could face the same issues as the Netherlands did against Morocco. It raises the question of how Marsch will deal with that. 

One possibility is to have forward Jonathan David drop deep in order to give Canada’s two central midfielders – Stephen Eustáquio and Nathan Saliba – support in dealing with Morocco’s swarming play in the middle of the park. Or Marsch might go with three central midfielders. If Marsch does decide to introduce another central midfielder into his starting 11 on Saturday, he might go with Niko Sigur, who made his second World Cup appearance by coming off the bench against South Africa.  

Sigur, 22, replaced Saliba in the 58th minute and put in a solid shift for Canada, registering one key pass and making a defensive clearance. Even though Sigur has mostly been used as a right fullback with Canada, Marsch didn’t hesitate to put him in central midfield against South Africa when the game still hung in the balance.  

“I've never complained about anything, where I'm playing and how much I'm playing. I just want to be available to the team, and I know that if you stay healthy and you stay ready and you train well, that you're getting chances. I think that's what happened in the South Africa game; that I was training well and just kept my head down and kept working, and I got an opportunity,” Sigur said.  

As far as playing a different role for his country compared to his Croatian club HNK Hajduk Split, making the adjustment is rather straightforward. Not much changes for Sigur, an industrious midfielder who offers a touch of class on the ball. 

“It's just different tasks. We play with two midfielders, so you have to really be sharp and know what you're going to do before you get the ball. Defensively, Marsch) wants us to be very aggressive, so from fullback it's different – you're a little more isolated on the side, there's different defensive rules and with the ball what he wants,” Sigur explained.  

“But I've been playing midfield all my life, and just getting some repetitions and training, it's something that you just have to be mentally switched on in the game, and then you just let muscle memory and the experience take over.”