FIFA World Cup 2026 Last 16 results: Morocco eliminate co-hosts, France beat Paraguay
World Cup 2026 last 16 results: Co-hosts Canada faced Morocco, and France took on Paraguay for a place in the quarter-finals.
Morocco 3-0 Canada
Morocco became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after a resounding win over co-hosts Canada. The win came courtesy of three goals in the second half in Houston.
It was Canada who started brightly and saw Jonathan David denied by Yassine Bounnou. The Moroccan keeper also made an expert save from his left foot to keep out Tani Oluwaseyi’s close-range effort. While they looked confident going forward, their opponents appeared disjointed in the first half and also saw Ismael Saibari limp off.
But whatever Mohamed Ouahbi said to his player during the interval worked. They came out with a purpose and went ahead through Achraf Hakimi’s clever pass from a free-kick. The PSG right-back played a pass to Azzedine Ounahi at the edge of the box, and he swept it home into the bottom-right corner at the 50th minute mark.
The Reds refused to back down as Bounnou pushed away a long-range drive from Tajon Buchanan. The one-goal lead appeared fragile. But the Atlas Lions showed the resilience that helped them score a stoppage-time equalizer against the Netherlands in the Round of 32. Then, with eight minutes remaining, the Moroccon fans inside the NRG Stadium were celebrating.
A swift counter attack saw Brahim Diaz play in Ounahi, and he made no mistake, blasting in a shot to make it 2-0. Soufiane Rahimi struck the crossbar from a header as the African side played with aplomb in the closing stages. Diaz provided his second assist of the game, a through ball to Rahimi, who coolly finished past Maxime Crepeau.
Jesse Marsch’s side bow out but should hold their heads high after a breakthrough World Cup. Morocco, meanwhile, reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the second time, showcasing rare consistency from an African side on the global stage.
France 1-0 Paraguay
France booked a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup after a hard-fought and scrappy win over Paraguay. Coming into the match, the South American side were well aware of taking the 2018 champions head-on. So, they decided to disrupt the free-flowing attacking rhythm of their opponents, and the plan worked for a long time.
No shots in the first 20 minutes from either side told the story. Les Bleus were frustrated by Paraguay, who came with a clear idea of what they wanted to do in Philadelphia. They got under the skin of the French players, with Kylian Mbappe lashing out after a foul on him. Mbappe had the chance to score but failed to get a touch on Ousmane Dembele’s threatening ball, and Adrien Rabiot also shot over the goal from distance.
The first half came and went by with Didier Deschamps’s side failing to get a shot on target. The second half saw the same story repeat itself, with Gustavo Alfaro’s side remaining stout in defending and frustrating France with Manu Kone having his side’s finally testing Orlando Gill in the 54th minute.
La Albirroja had undone Germany with the same tactics in the Round of 32 before knocking the four-time World Champions out on penalties. With France unable to breakthrough their defence in the last 16 tie, it appeared the same script might play out again.
But with 20 minutes left, the game changed big time. Substitute Desire Doue was fouled inside the box by Diego Gomez, and after a VAR review, the referee awarded a penalty. Mbappe stepped up to send Gill, the hero of the penalty shootout win over the Germans, the wrong way to make it 1-0.
Paraguay did have the chance to send the game to extra-time but Mike Maignan did well to thwart Mauricio’s shot. Mbappe had the chance to extend his side’s lead and move ahead in the tournament’s Golden Boot race, but Gill saved his two shots in quick succession. France were troubled little at the end as they secured a quarter-final passage to set up a repeat of the 2022 World Cup semi-final match against Morocco.
The contest will take place at the Gillette Stadium in Boston on July 9, Thursday.
