The dream ended in Houston, and it ended emphatically. Canada, buoyed by the roar of a home World Cup, walked off the NRG Stadium turf beaten 3-0 by a Morocco side that grew colder and more clinical the longer the night wore on. What began as a taut, nervy last-16 tie became, by its closing act, an exhibition of composure from the North Africans.

At the heart of it was Azzedine Ounahi, whose two goals framed the contest and settled its outcome. His first, five minutes into the second half, broke the resistance. His second, eight minutes from time, broke the spirit. And when Soufiane Rahimi struck deep into stoppage time, the scoreline finally matched the gulf that had opened up over ninety-odd unforgiving minutes.

For Canada, it was a chastening way to bow out of their own tournament. The occasion demanded courage, and for long spells they matched Morocco stride for stride. But knockout football is a game of moments, and every decisive one belonged to the visitors. The co-hosts leave with pride intact and precious little else.

Ounahi breaks the deadlock

The first half had been a cagey, cautious affair, both sides wary of the fine margins that govern a straight shootout. Canada probed without incision; Morocco waited with the patience of a team that trusted its quality to tell eventually. It did, and quickly, once the interval had passed.

Five minutes into the second period, a set piece gave Morocco their opening. Achraf Hakimi provided the moment of vision, feeding Ounahi on the edge of the box, and the midfielder needed no invitation. His right-footed shot arrowed low into the bottom right corner, a strike of clean, unarguable class that left the goalkeeper rooted.

It was the goal the game had been holding its breath for, and it changed the complexion of everything. Canada, forced to chase, found themselves stretched. Morocco, ahead and comfortable, settled into the rhythm they had been searching for. The pattern of the night was set, and it would not favour the hosts.

The hosts chase the game

Trailing at their own World Cup, Canada had no choice but to commit bodies forward, and in doing so they invited the very danger that would undo them. Morocco absorbed the pressure with discipline, defended their box with numbers, and bided their time for the counter. Every Canadian surge carried the risk of a gap opening behind.

The longer the equaliser refused to come, the more anxious the home crowd grew. Chances were half-made and half-wasted, the final ball too often overhit or snuffed out. Morocco's back line stood firm while their forwards lurked, and the sense grew that a second goal would arrive at the other end long before Canada found their first.

So it proved. On 82 minutes, a fast break sliced the hosts open. Brahim Díaz carried the ball with menace before releasing Ounahi in the centre of the box, and the midfielder finished with the same certainty as his first, this time lashing into the top right corner. Two goals, one man, and the tie was as good as done.

Rahimi rubs it in

There was still time for a final flourish, and Morocco were in no mood to spare their hosts. Eight minutes into stoppage time, with Canada broken and reaching for anything, Díaz turned provider once more. Another fast break, another clinical exchange, and this time Rahimi was the beneficiary.

The substitute took his chance with a left-footed finish from the centre of the box, guiding it into the bottom right corner to make it three. It was the kind of goal that punctuates a result rather than shaping it, but it underlined the authority with which Morocco had closed out the night. Díaz's two assists in the dying stages spoke of a team hunting until the whistle.

For a Canadian side that had carried a nation's hopes, the final margin felt cruel yet honest. They had been beaten by the sharper, more ruthless team, and no amount of home advantage could paper over that. The NRG Stadium emptied to silence long before Rahimi's celebrations had faded.

What it means

Morocco march on into the last eight, and they do so with the swagger of a side that believes its moment has come. This was not a fortunate win or a smash-and-grab; it was a controlled, mature dismantling of a dangerous opponent on hostile soil. Ounahi's brace will grab the headlines, but the collective calm was every bit as impressive.

For the co-hosts, the story of this World Cup is over, and it closes with a sense of what might have been. Reaching the round of 16 on home ground was no small feat, and the journey will have won them admirers and quickened the pulse of a footballing nation still finding its place on the grandest stage. The foundations, at least, feel real.

Yet the manner of the exit will sting. Three goals conceded, none scored, and a night on which every big moment slipped through their fingers. The lesson of tournament football is unsparing: brilliance in flashes is not enough when the opposition is this disciplined and this precise.

Morocco, meanwhile, look ahead with genuine ambition. On the evidence of Houston, they have the players to trouble anyone left in the draw and the temperament to match. Ounahi announced himself on the biggest stage he has known, and his country will believe there is more to come.