![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6334_304106886.jpg\")
Mariana, right, joins as fans celebrate Morocco\u2019s World Cup win over Canada at a street watch party in St-L\u00e9onard on Saturday. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nMorocco\u2019s victory over Canada sparked celebrations in St-L\u00e9onard on Saturday, where hundreds of supporters gathered around a giant outdoor screen to watch the Atlas Lions advance to the World Cup quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
Yet even as Moroccan flags waved overhead and car horns sounded through the neighbourhood, many supporters were quick to praise Canada\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada lost with honour,\u201d said Ayoub Oukal, a Moroccan-Canadian supporter watching the match.<\/p>\n
The free watch party, organized by the SDC Jean-Talon Est, drew hundreds to the corner of Jean-Talon St. E. and Pontoise St., where about 150 seats were set up in front of a giant outdoor screen, and many others watched standing behind the viewing area.<\/p>\n
Mariana, right, joins as fans celebrate Morocco\u2019s World Cup win over Canada at a street watch party in St-L\u00e9onard on Saturday. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Supporters wearing Moroccan jerseys packed the site throughout the afternoon, reacting to every chance and near miss as Morocco secured a 3-0 victory over one of the tournament\u2019s host nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is by far the biggest watch party we\u2019ve had so far,\u201d said Pierre Frisko, director-general of the SDC Jean-Talon Est. \u201cWe have a large Moroccan community in Montreal, and people were really excited for this match.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event opened at 12:30 p.m. and included games and prizes before the match, with a DJ scheduled to perform afterward. Frisko said the organization has already hosted two World Cup watch parties during the tournament and plans to host two more next weekend.<\/p>\n
For many supporters, the afternoon carried significance beyond the result itself. Morocco\u2019s run has become a source of pride for members of Montreal\u2019s Moroccan community, many of whom gathered with family and friends to watch the match.<\/p>\n
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Despite celebrating Morocco\u2019s win, several fans said the final score did not reflect Canada\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first half was almost completely dominated by Canada,\u201d said Bilal Oukal. \u201cWe thought they could win.\u201d<\/p>\n
His brother agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Canada had scored one or two goals in the first half, it would have been very difficult for Morocco,\u201d Ayoub said. \u201cThey pressed Morocco a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Ali, who moved to Montreal from Morocco about 20 years ago, the event was a reminder of home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like having a piece of home here,\u201d he said. \u201cYou leave your country, but you never forget where you come from. When you see everyone together \u2014 families, children, people waving flags and celebrating \u2014 it brings back a lot of memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ali said gatherings like Saturday\u2019s watch party allow people to celebrate both their heritage and their lives in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cMorocco will always be part of who we are,\u201d he said. \u201cBut Montreal is home, too. Being able to celebrate Morocco here, with people from different backgrounds joining in, makes it even more special.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1107_304106934.jpg\")
Ben-Abbas Ouiam holds an ancient flag of Morocco as she and other fans celebrate Morocco\u2019s World Cup victory over Canada on Saturday in St-L\u00e9onard. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
As the final whistle sounded, supporters rushed toward the front of the viewing area, waving flags, embracing friends and stopping for photos in front of the giant screen. Some lingered long after the match had ended, celebrating Morocco\u2019s place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
Among them was Ben-Abbas Ouiam, who moved to Montreal from Morocco when she was 18.<\/p>\n
She said celebrating Morocco\u2019s victory in Montreal gave the moment added significance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a celebration with Canadians, too, now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love seeing Morocco and Canada together like this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morocco\u2019s victory over Canada sparked celebrations in St-L\u00e9onard on Saturday, where hundreds of supporters gathered around a giant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-780834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}