{"id":361797,"date":"2026-07-05T13:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361797\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T13:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:32:16","slug":"fourth-of-july-world-cup-houston-road-trip-for-morocco-vs-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/361797\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth of July World Cup Houston road trip for Morocco vs Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Morocco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThere seemed to be fewer Morocco World Cup fans in Houston than Canada fans, but they were still plenty loud and proud. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Mike Brooks<\/p>\n

Unlike U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, we didn\u2019t think it prudent to take a months-long vacation with our family <\/a>on the taxpayer\u2019s dime to celebrate the Fourth of July. But we did find it impossible to resist honoring the country\u2019s 250th birthday with a good ol\u2019 American road trip of a different sort. <\/p>\n

We followed up Friday\u2019s World Cup match in Arlington<\/a> with a drive down Interstate 45 to Houston for Saturday\u2019s round of 16 match featuring Morocco and Canada. The distance between Big D and H-town is among the shortest trips between 2026 host cities, so we\u2019d be crazy not to give this Texas World Cup two-step a shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not only was it a contest to decide who advances to the quarterfinals and who goes home, but it was a matchup of Africa\u2019s best squad \u2013 with apologies to the inspirational heroes of Cabo Verde \u2013 against Canada\u2019s best-ever national men\u2019s soccer team. That\u2019s our kind of America, you know.\u00a0We\u2019re into melting pots. <\/p>\n

\"HoustonPrior to the match, there was a special on-field presentation commemorating the United States\u2019 250th birthday. <\/p>\n

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THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

You’re all set.<\/p>\n

CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Because we were playing the role of proper tourists, we absolutely stopped by Buc-ee\u2019s on the way down<\/a>. Inside the Madisonville location just off I-45, north of Houston, we spotted folks sporting Morocco jerseys as well as customers donning Canadian-themed gear. The giant gas and meat mecca isn\u2019t just for visiting Germans, to be fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inside NRG Stadium, known during the tournament as Houston Stadium, the majority of the reportedly sold-out crowd of 68,777 in attendance were clad in red (it\u2019s worth noting that a large portion of the corporate hospitality suite seats were empty, although likely sold). Initially the shared color made it hard to tell which way the throng leaned, but shortly after the match started it seemed as though the vocal majority was with Canada, although not by much. Unlike the Mexico and the United States teams, who won their groups, Canada has not enjoyed a true home field advantage in all of their matches thanks to their second-place finish in the group stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"HoustonPrior to the match, there was a special on-field presentation commemorating the United States\u2019 250th birthday. <\/p>\n

\"HoustonFireworks erupted after the national anthems for Morocco and Canada were completed. <\/p>\n

Because of FIFA\u2019s strict control over the overall production and fan experiences for each match, there weren\u2019t many differences in the look of what has transpired in Arlington over the past few weeks and what we experienced in Houston. The same corporate activations<\/a> from Home Depot, Doritos, Michelob Ultra, and yes, the Bank of America bracelets, could be found, for example. The line for the viral trinkets was nearly as long in Houston as they have been in Dallas, too. During the match, fans booed when the referee blew his whistle for the needless hydration breaks, just as has been happening in nearly every match this summer across North America.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Something unique on Sunday was the lack of goals called back by offside penalty calls. If you\u2019re even a casual soccer fan you\u2019ve no doubt noticed that Americans on social media who are not longtime soccer fans have not stopped complaining about the times in recent weeks they\u2019ve celebrated a goal in vain from their couch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"HoustonThe World Cup is pretty fun, eh?<\/p>\n

\"MoroccoThere seemed to be fewer Morocco World Cup fans in Houston than Canada fans, but they were still plenty loud and proud. <\/p>\n

NRG Stadium, opened in 2002, is older than AT&T Stadium by seven years, and it shows in that it\u2019s less smaller and less museum-like (so it looks and feels more like a proper sports stadium and less like the Galleria). Although it\u2019s smaller, the Houston stadium is louder than Arlington\u2019s, which is great for World Cup energy, but not ideal for the wave apparently, as multiple attempts to get one started failed quickly, and we\u2019ll admit, hilariously.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for the match itself, the Atlas Lions of Morocco were the betting favorites and indeed, the better team on paper, although the first half nearly suggested otherwise. Moroccan star striker Ismael Saibari left the match with an early injury as Canada kept the pressure on and largely controlled possession indicating this would be yet another close result. With several yellow cards issued in the first half, the match was a chippy, defensively tight affair to the point one could forgive the 0-0 score.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"IsmaelMorocco\u2019s Ismael Saibari (No. 11) has been one of the standout players of the 2026 World Cup. <\/p>\n

\"canadaIt just was not Canada\u2019s day, despite playing really well, especially in the first half of their July 4 match. <\/p>\n

\"CanadaThis match featured a total of eight yellow cards and more than 30 penalties. <\/p>\n

\"2026A physical affair indeed. <\/p>\n

The match would end with a total of eight yellows issued, with each team receiving four. The second half proved to be a different ballgame, though. Morocco\u2019s Azzedine Ounahi began the scoring with a strike from just outside of the penalty box in the 50th minute. Later in the match, well past the second-half hydration break, Canada was able to again apply pressure in Morocco\u2019s end, but the Atlas Lions dashed Canada\u2019s hopes of drawing even with another gorgeous ball from Ounahi to go up 2-0 in the 82nd minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A third Moroccan goal in stoppage time put a final end to the best World Cup Canada\u2019s soccer team has ever enjoyed. For us, it meant finding our truck and heading back up north, after another stop at Buc-ees for an early dinner. Fireworks? Thanks to the tackles, pushing, shoving, scoring and national jubilation shown by Canadian, Moroccan fans, we\u2019d seen plenty long before sundown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WorldThe red of Morocco and Canada blanketed Houston\u2019s NRG Stadium on July 4. <\/p>\n

\"CanadaAlthough fans of both teams sported red, Morocco and Canada each wore their \u201caway kits.\u201d on Saturday. <\/p>\n

\"MoroccoThere seemed to be fewer Morocco World Cup fans in Houston than Canada fans, but they were still plenty loud and proud. <\/p>\n

\"MoroccoMorocco became the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals in 2022. After Saturday\u2019s win in Houston, the Atlas Lions will face France in the quarterfinals. <\/p>\n

\"MoroccoThere seemed to be fewer Morocco World Cup fans in Houston than Canada fans, but they were still plenty loud and proud. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There seemed to be fewer Morocco World Cup fans in Houston than Canada fans, but they were still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,65188],"class_list":["post-361797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-quest-for-the-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}