World Cup highlights: Morocco show clinical edge while France see off Paraguay

[p]Flashscore brings you all the best moments from the tournament in our daily World Cup highlights feature. Here's what happened on day 24![/p][h2]The headlines[/h2][p]It was the first day of the last 16, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] kicking things off [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/canada-x4toKORL/morocco-IDKYO3R8/?mid=pUYfr7u3"]with a 3-0 win[/a] over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/x4toKORL/"]Canada[/a] in Houston. Although the Atlas Lions did not look like their best selves in the opening half, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ounahi-azzedine/reDF5hxm/"]Azzedine Ounahi[/a] scored the first of his two goals shortly after the restart from a free-kick routine.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rahimi-soufiane/OYfFre1D/"]Soufiane Rahimi[/a], who came on for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saibari-ismael/WzSmqNMQ/"]Ismael Saibari[/a] early on, added a third in stoppage time to send Morocco to their second straight World Cup quarter-final. Canada's third appearance at the finals ends, becoming the first of the co-hosts to be knocked out.[/p][p]The other game saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/QkGeVG1n/"]France[/a] defeat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/paraguay/YaNlqp6j/"]Paraguay[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/france-QkGeVG1n/paraguay-YaNlqp6j/?mid=M5YPKKbB"]1-0 in Philadelphia[/a] thanks to a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbappe-kylian/Wn6E2SED/"]Kylian Mbappe[/a] penalty. It was far from vintage for [i]Les Bleus, [/i]who had 76% of the possession. [/p][image alt="Match Stats: Paraguay vs France" id="e637f3d1-1aa8-4515-b2b3-2d4e6bb8c266" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="3039bd03-c06d-4039-9ebd-2841c7076f3f" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Yet, it took a spot kick from their captain 20 minutes from time to finally get past a stubborn Paraguay side, who saw their journey come to an end.[/p][p]It means that France and Morocco will face off in the first quarter-final on Thursday in what should be a blockbuster clash.[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /][h2]Player of the day[/h2][p]Having to step up their game in the second half, Morocco will be happy to have found their way past Canada. The player who proved the most pivotal to that win was Ounahi, who earned an [b]8.7 Flashscore rating[/b] - the highest of the day.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/girona/nNNpcUSL/"]Girona[/a] man was the one to convert a strategic free-kick routine to get his side off the mark. Then, he was in the right place to finish off [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diaz-brahim/nm2Qvnyk/"]Brahim Diaz[/a]'s cutback to net the insurance goal.[/p][image alt="Azzedine Ounahi Player Stats" id="43a1d1f8-62ae-4ea6-98ba-3c0a4a788b43" credit-line="IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Maria Lysaker / Opta by Stats Perform" guid="9f8a28db-61a5-41aa-9dc7-b83e047c1b58" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][h2]Goal of the day[/h2][p]There were only four goals on Saturday, but the best of the bunch has to be Ounahi's opener.[/p][p]Having not played well in the opening 45, Morocco needed to step things up. And that they did, as just a few minutes after the break, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hakimi-achraf/MqFBkBsp/"]Achraf Hakimi[/a] picked out Ounahi on a free-kick, allowing the Girona man to shoot a low first-time shot past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/crepeau-maxime/bTqrxMoS/"]Maxime Crepeau[/a] and into the net.[/p][image alt="Ounahi First Goal Sequence" id="7b8470cc-76aa-465d-a9b4-f3711e797177" credit-line="REUTERS/Hannah Mckay TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY / Opta by Stats Perform" guid="f421f271-94df-40eb-97f1-e08b659fedab" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]It was a smart goal from the Atlas Lions, who made the most of the fact that no Canadian player was marking Ounahi at the top of the box.[/p][h2]Best from social media[/h2][p]There was not too much in terms of social media hype that took place on day 24, but CAF's X page took a moment to show several of the congratulations messages Morocco received after their win.[/p][p]Just as they did in 2022, the Atlas Lions are uniting a continent, and the support they are receiving from many were on display in the post.[/p][embed guid="034bc429-1e88-429f-85e8-162558a2e4d6" url="https://x.com/CAF_Online/status/2073499553605558622?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]