Key events
90 min: There will be eight minutes of stoppage time.
88 min: Bono takes a whack upside the head from Promise while dealing with a high free kick sent into the mixer. The whistle goes, and time ticks down on Canada.
87 min: Morocco make a double change: El Mourabet and Saadane come on for Ounahi and Diop. So do Canada: Osario and Nelson replacing Buchanan and Sigur.
86 min: Johnston crosses from the right. Easy for Bono, who bowls out to Ounahi on the right. Canada seriously light at the back. Ounahi loops a perfect cross onto the head of Rahimi, ten yards out. Rahimi guides a header towards the top right, Crepeau rooted to the spot and out of the game … but the ball crashes off the underside of the bar and stays out. That would have been another peach of a goal. Moroccan cream rising to the top now.
84 min: Morocco haven’t played particularly well. At all. But they’ve scored two delicious goals. They’re pretty good at the old tournament football.
ShareGOAL! Canada 0-2 Morocco (Ounahi 82)
De Fugerolles tries a defence-splitting pass down the right that’s easily intercepted by Talbi. He strides forward down the middle. Morocco are four on two. Talbi feeds Diaz in the box on the right. Diaz draws the defenders and cuts back inside for Ounahi, who opens his body and sidefoots a powerful curler into the top right. A lovely counter! That should be that.
Azzedine Ounahi fires in the second. Photograph: Héctor Vivas/FIFA/Getty ImagesMaxime Crepeau dives in vain. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty ImagesOunahi celebrates. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/FIFA/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 14.55 EDT
81 min: That was better from Canada … but the subs were sent on, and there’s still no Davies. Presumably a fitness setback? It would be a bit weird otherwise.
79 min: Canada replace Laryea and Ahmed with Promise and Shaffelberg. Then when play restarts, Buchanan has a dig from distance. A low drive towards the bottom left. Bono tips around the post, and nothing comes from the resulting corner.
78 min: David tries a cheeky flip into the top-left corner, hoping to catch Bono out of position. He might have done so, had he got the free kick on target, but the ball floats harmlessly over the bar.
77 min: VAR’s had a look, and the decision stands. A free kick inside the Morocco D, but just outside the box. The usual pre-set-piece prep is going on right now.
76 min: Sigur curls in from the right. Bono punches powerfully clear. Canada come back at Morocco, and Eustaquio thinks about shooting from the edge of the box. He’s pulled back by Amrabat, and the referee awards a free kick. Right on the edge. VAR will probably need to double check that’s not a penalty, because it looked really close.
Eustaquio is pulled back by Sofyan Amrabat right on the edge of the area. Photograph: Lars Baron/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 14.45 EDT
75 min: Canada pass it around patiently … they’re not panicking yet.
73 min: Still no sign of Alphonso Davies. Jesse Marsch may need to break the emergency glass on that one sooner rather than later.
71 min: … and we begin again.
70 min: Hydration break postbag. “Morocco have looked like a team of footballers who can’t run and Canada like a team of athletes who can’t play football. Hence this thriller for the ages” – Niall Mullen
“Strange to see Bouaddi being taken off. I like Amrabat, but Bouaddi is so composed on the ball, reads the game so well, is always in the way. Morocco may gain muscle but is losing plenty of quality on the ball – and off it. I’m now wondering how long until a major team picks him up from Lille” – João André
“Leave it up to an EPL ref to absolutely ruin a World Cup match. Hope he is sent home after this to prepare for his 10 minute VAR checks in August” – Craig Rempel
“Michael Oliver is completely ruining this game, and reffing completely differently from every other official this tournament. Let them play!” – Matthias (salty in Montreal)
“I happen to think a red card or two would spice this game up a bit. C’mon Michael O!!!” – Joshua Reynolds
68 min … and that’s drinks. And snacks. Fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. Maple bacon corn snacks. (“The maple kind?!”) Khobez flatbread and zaalouk, made from aubergine and tomato. (He still wants the maple bacon. I’d go for the zaalouk myself, but fair’s fair, he’s a dog.)
67 min: Bono’s put to work now, though, Buchanan nearly latching onto a long ball down the middle, the keeper coming from his box to hack clear. Then seconds later, another ball down the middle, this time sent into the Canada penalty area. Bono clears, only for Larin to clatter him microseconds later. Another booking. It was a powerful challenge, but Larin was entitled to go for that. A free kick would have surely sufficed, but PGMOL gonna PGMOL.
Cyle Larin collides with Yassine Bounou. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty ImagesMichael Oliver is quickly on the scene. Photograph: Issei Kato/ReutersShare
Updated at 14.38 EDT
65 min: Morocco seem pretty comfortable at the moment. Bono hasn’t had anything to do since the restart. Meanwhile my colleague Beau Dure adds more colour to this all-action thriller: “With the shot off the free kick, Morocco improved their xG from 0.02 to 0.09.”
63 min: … and perhaps with that in mind, Oluwaseyi is replaced by Larin. Morocco meanwhile make a double change, swapping out El Khannouss and Bouaddi for Amrabat and Talbi.
62 min: Oluwaseyi is penalised for clipping Bouaddi. It’s a bit soft, so he rants at the referee. He’s already on a booking, so wants to watch himself.
Updated at 14.27 EDT
60 min: Buchanan bounds after a ball down the inside-right channel. He’s shoved in the back by Halhal and falls over in the box, but there’s no decision over a penalty because the flag goes up for offside. There didn’t look much in the offside decision; there’s a bit more to be said about the possible penalty, because Halhal was taking an awful risk. But we move on.
59 min: The corner’s hit long, but De Fougerolles can’t get any power on a header at the far post.
58 min: Ahmed chases after a long pass down the left and wins a corner. Eustaquio to take.
56 min: Hakimi’s corner comes back to him, and then he flays a wild second attempt at a cross over everyone’s head and out for a goal kick. “Maybe I’m imbuing the footballers on the pitch with more intelligence than they actually have, but if a referee is being a bit whistle and card-happy, then surely they should dial down the cynical/professional fouls to ensure they don’t get penalised?” wonders Andy (not that one) Flintoff.
55 min: … so yes, they pick it up again, and Rahini bursts down the right to win a corner off Buchanan.
54 min: Morocco don’t have to force it now, so they drop the pace a bit and start passing it around the back again. Whether that’s such a good idea, given the evidence of the first half, and what happened when they picked it up after the break, is a moot point.
52 min: That was a wonderful set piece. Cut back crisply by Hakimi, and dispatched calmly, albeit through a thicket of legs in a crowded box, by Ounahi. A genuine moment of quality to break the deadlock. The Canada players who surrounded the referee re that Ounahi tug on Ahmed might have something to say about it, though.
ShareGOAL! Canada 0-1 Morocco (Ounahi 50)
The free kick, near the right hand corner flag, is pulled back by Hakimi to Ounahi, who races in and meets the ball just inside the D, passing the ball at high speed into the bottom right! Great free kick, and a lovely finish … by a player who could have picked up a second yellow moments before.
Azzedine Ounahi directs the ball home. Photograph: Kevin C Cox/Getty Images Canada’s Maxime Crepeau is beaten. Photograph: Hannah McKay/ReutersOunahi celebrates. Photograph: David J Phillip/APShare
Updated at 14.28 EDT
49 min: … the ball’s worked left to right. It’s crossed for De Fougerolles, who slices a wild volley over the bar. And then De Fougerolles is in action again up the other end, sliding in late on Rahimi as the Moroccan sub bombs down the right. Another booking. This isn’t going to end up 11 v 11.
48 min: Ounahi gives the ball away then pulls Ahmed back. A gentle tug, but he’s already on a yellow. Canada keep going, though, and Oluwaseyi enters the box, winning a corner. From which …
47 min: The early signs suggest Morocco have been given the what-for during the break, and told to take it up a couple of notches.
Morocco get the second half started. No changes during the break.
Half-time postbag. “Did the Morocco team that played Brazil get rested for today’s game?” – Gavin O’Reilly
“These teams are so bad, can’t we eliminate them both and bring back in Cabo Verde?” – Phil Collis
“This match is tactically genius from Canada. You’re so negative about the match. Canada is dominating the #7 team in the world. Yes dominating them, I got no problem saying that. They haven’t had a sniff” – Craig Rempel
“Give credit to Canada’s defensive organization! They are sharp with their shape and strategic press. It might not be a crackin’ match, but you could at least give some plaudits where they are due!” – Reuben Koole
“A few minutes ago the commentator on Norwegian telly told us that there had been five yellow cards. But the Norwegian for yellow (‘gul’) sounds very similar to ‘jul’, the Norwegian for Christmas. So perhaps Mr Oliver is writing ‘seasons greetings’ on them after waving them about” – Bob O’Hara
“Bayern Munchen. Borussia Dortmund. Even my own beloved Brighton and Hove Albion. Let’s not pretend Europeans are superior here” – Simon Webb
“I got distracted looking up the origin of ‘to give someone gyp’. The popular theory is that it comes from ‘gee up’ (eg a horse) because you beat a horse to gee it up. So now you know” – Harry Desmond
ShareHALF TIME: Canada 0-0 Morocco
Canada have stifled Morocco with their press, and Oluwaseyi carved out a chance for himself. But otherwise it’s been slim pickings, and not much of a spectacle. Canada will be miles happier, though.
45 min +6: Yet another yellow card, this time to El Khannouss for running slap-bang into De Fougerolles. That’s four Moroccans walking the disciplinary tightrope now.
Another yellow, this time to Morocco’s Bilal El Khannouss. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 13.59 EDT
45 min +4: Johnson throws long down the right touchline and nearly releases Oluwaseyi, but the striker can’t jink past Mazraoui with Morocco otherwise light at the back.
45 min +2: We’re already a third of the way into six additional first-half minutes.
45 min: … and now it’s a booking for Ounahi, who clips Ahmed. It’s not exactly been a dirty game, that minor brouhaha started by Hakimi and Laryea apart. Time to resurrect Kevin Keegan’s great quote on ITV during the 1994 World Cup: “It’s like a toaster, the ref’s shirt pocket. Every time there’s a tackle, up pops a yellow card.”
44 min: Some more HOT MICHAEL OLIVER ACTION as David is booked for cynically but also pointlessly hauling back Diaz, who was in flight, but miles from the Canada goal.
43 min: Morocco do their calming-things-down bit again. Pass, pass, pass around the back. The majority of the crowd give them a bit of gyp as a result.
41 min: Oliver books both Hakimi and Laryea. The former seemed more at fault than the latter, pushing his man in the back unnecessarily. Laryea came back at him, which is when everything got heated … but not that heated. Still, we need something to spark this game into life. The usual think-of-the-kids caveats apply, but a bench-emptying brawl would have done it.
39 min: Hakimi and Laryea square up over very little. Then everyone else piles in, and things nearly descend to WAHEY! level. We don’t like to see it, except we do. The referee Michael Oliver comes across to put a stop to the nonsense, the old spoilsport.
Referee Michael Oliver steps in to separate Hakimi and Laryea. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 13.45 EDT
37 min: Another long Johnston throw-in that comes to nothing. This is in danger of turning into a bit of a non-event. Meanwhile here’s Jeff Necessary from North Carolina: “Having observed my son coming up through Texas schools for 10 years, the kids were heavily indoctrinated that Texans are better than anyone else and Texas is better than anywhere else (both of which sounded to me like trying to convince themselves first). So with that mindset, calling the team the Texans fits right in.” We should probably stop this discussion now, just in case we accidentally spark a second US civil war. And on this day of all days, too, for shame.
35 min: Mazraoui’s attempt at a clearing header skims off the top of his head and out for a corner. The set piece leads to some messy nonsense, and De Fougerolles falls over the stricken Bouaddi. No claim for a penalty, in fact it’s a free kick to Morocco.
34 min: Eustaquio floats a diagonal pass in from the left, hoping to find Buchanan in the Morocco box. But Morocco clear.
32 min: Nothing much going on. The crowd entertain themselves with a Viking Row, the Mexican Wave de nos jours.
30 min: Johnston flings long into the Morocco area from the right. De Fougerolles competes too energetically and the whistle goes. Fair to say this match hasn’t quite taken off yet.
29 min: Play restarts, and Morocco’s replacement striker Rahimi has a dig from long range. That’s easy for Crepeau. “The Texans were originally going to be called the Toros – meaning ‘bull’ in Spanish,” begins Ray in Houston. “The team logo is a bull and the team mascot is an anthropomorphic bull called ‘Toro’ (who looks somewhat like a minotaur). So they were walking the easy path to calling the team the Toros. And then they stepped off the path into a pile of bullshit and called the team the ‘Texans’. The Houston Toros is an empirically good name.”