Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic, former AC Milan striker, revealed the reason behind Morocco's victory over Canada, explaining that the African champions were not good in the first half.

Morocco secured their spot in the quarter-finals after defeating Canada 3-0 in a match played on Saturday evening as part of the Round of 16, continuing the Atlas Lions' historic run in the current edition of the World Cup.

Appearing on Fox Sports, Ibrahimovic said: 'In the end, the stronger team won. The first half was not ideal, but they came back and scored the three goals they needed.'

The Swedish star added: 'There was no secret or luck in that, they were simply the stronger team, and therefore they deserved to qualify for the quarter-finals.'

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Ibrahimovic noted that Morocco showed strong character during the match, as they were not affected by not playing at their best in the first half, and managed to impose their control as time went on, exploiting their technical and physical superiority to seal the match with a clean 3-0 victory.

Morocco continues its strong performances in the 2026 World Cup, having become the first Arab team to reach the quarter-finals in the current edition. The match also saw another historic achievement, as Azzedine Ounahi scored the 100th goal for Arabs in World Cup history, before increasing the tally to 101 himself, and then Sofiane Rahimi added the 102nd Arab goal.