Canada is the underdog vs. Morocco. Balancing the duality of that psychology will determine their fate

The psychology of the underdog is a fascinating one.

Morocco, the sixth-ranked team in the world and a giant of the modern game, should beat Canada on Saturday in the World Cup’s Round of 16. The Moroccans outstrip the Canadians by nearly every measure beyond pure athleticism: They are tactically more fluid and astute, they are brilliant passers, they are technically superior, they are more experienced.

“This is a team that has literally zero weaknesses,” Canada’s head coach Jesse Marsch said at Friday’s packed news conference at Houston Stadium. 

The Moroccan media in attendance accused Marsch of overstating the disparity between the two sides, shifting the weight of expectation, the burden of responsibility, even more fully onto the better team.

“No,” Marsch said. “It’s the reality of the situation.”

Morocco were semifinalists at the World Cup in 2022 and finalists at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2025. When they met in Qatar, the Moroccans beat the Canadians 2-1; the goal they conceded, they scored on themselves.

For the 13 men on Canada’s roster who played in that game, the memory of it haunts them like tinnitus.

“It’s going to be loud,” Alistair Johnston, who has been an inspiration this tournament, said when he was asked what that game taught him. “Noises you didn’t even know were possible to be made.”

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Marsch, who believes in evaluating teams in the flesh, flew to Monterrey to watch the Moroccans dispatch the mighty Netherlands in the Round of 32. What he felt that incredible night in Mexico made more of an impression than what he saw.

“The confidence that the team had,