The World Cup’s round of 16 begins Saturday with Canada facing Morocco and France playing Paraguay, with free watch parties being held at multiple locations in Los Angeles County.
Saturday’s play will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time with the Canada-Morocco match in Houston.
Canada reached the round of 16 for the first time in its three World Cup appearances with a 1-0 victory over South Africa last Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
The Atlas Lions advanced to the round of 16 for the second consecutive World Cup by defeating the Netherlands 3-2 in a penalty shootout after extra time ended in a 1-1 tie Monday in Monterey, Mexico.
The Moroccans reached the knockout stage in just one of their first five World Cup appearances, then finished fourth in the 2022 tournament.
Morocco is sixth in the unofficial rankings released after Friday’s Colombia-Ghana round of 32 match by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. Canada is 30th.
The rankings are based on a point system in which points are added to or subtracted from a team’s total based on the latest result. The ranking is considered unofficial until all matches are approved as international `A’ matches. The latest official ranking was released June 11, the day the World Cup began.
The Opta supercomputer gives Morocco a 67.01% chance of advancing to the quarterfinals based on 10,000 pre-match simulations, and Canada a 32.99% chance.
Morocco’s roster consists of five players who play in France’s first division, four in England’s first division, two each in the first divisions in Belgium, Germany, Morocco, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Spain, one each in the first divisions in Egypt, Greece, Italy and the United Arab Emirates and one in Spain’s second division.
Canada’s roster includes three players from the Los Angeles Football Club — midfielders Mathieu Choiniére, Stephen Eustáquio and Jacob Shaffelburg.
Six other Major League Soccer players are on the roster, including Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, who played for LAFC in 2022 — when it won the MLS Cup and Supporters Shield for having the best regular-season record — and 2023.
The rest of the roster consists of three players who play in the English second division, two each in the first divisions in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain, and one each who play in the first divisions in Croatia, England, Germany, Scotland, Belgian second division and English third division.
Canadian coach Jesse Marsch ended his playing career by playing for the defunct Carson-based Chivas USA from 2006-09.
Crépeau was Canada’s goalkeeper in all four of its matches and has a 0.75 goals against average.
The France-Paraguay match will begin at 2 p.m. PDT in Philadelphia.
France reached the round of 16 for the fourth consecutive World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Sweden in a round of 32 match Tuesday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Paraguay advanced by defeating Germany, 4-3, in a penalty shootout after extra time ended in a 1-1 tie Monday in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Los GuaranÃes (The GuaranÃes) have reached the round of 16 in four of their nine World Cup appearances, including advancing to the quarterfinals in 2010, their most recent World Cup before this edition.
France is first in the unofficial rankings, Paraguay 34th, three spots higher than it was entering the match against Germany.
The Opta supercomputer gives France an 86.62% chance of advancing, Paraguay a 13.38% chance. It had given Germany a 79.96% chance of advancing to the round of 16, Paraguay a 20.04% chance.
Saturday’s two winners will meet in a quarterfinal Thursday in Foxborough. Both of Saturday’s matches will be televised in English by Fox and in Spanish by Telemundo.
Free watch parties for both matches will be held at the El Sereno, South Park and Westwood recreation centers as part of the Kick It In the Park program organized by various city of Los Angeles departments that also include youth soccer clinics, neighborhood programming and community resources.
Attendance is limited to 1,000 people at a time. Alcohol sale, possession and consumption is not permitted. Attendees are advised by organizers to bring blankets, chairs, snacks and reusable water bottles.
More information is available at kickit.lacity.gov.
Free watch parties for both matches will also be held at Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park in the unincorporated Willowbrook area, near Compton. The park is a Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Fan Zone Saturday and Sunday.
Free watch parties for both matches will also be held at Galaxy Park at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson and the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles.