Morocco

Morocco will be without influential forward Ismael Saibari for Thursday’s FIFA World Cup quarterfinal against France after the Bayern Munich star failed to recover from a hamstring injury. According to Al Jazeera, Saibari picked up the injury during Morocco’s 3-0 victory over Canada in the Round of 16 and has…...

Morocco will be without influential forward Ismael Saibari for Thursday’s FIFA World Cup quarterfinal against France after the Bayern Munich star failed to recover from a hamstring injury.

According to Al Jazeera, Saibari picked up the injury during Morocco’s 3-0 victory over Canada in the Round of 16 and has been ruled out of the last-eight clash, although head coach Mohamed Ouahbi remains hopeful the midfielder could return later in the tournament if the Atlas Lions progress.

“Everyone is 100 percent fit except Saibari. This game comes too soon for him, but I hope he is not out for the rest of the competition,” Ouahbi told reporters on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old recently completed a reported €50 million move from PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich and has been one of Morocco’s standout performers at the tournament. He scored in all three group-stage matches and also converted the decisive penalty in the shootout victory over the Netherlands in the Round of 32 before suffering the injury against Canada.

Should Morocco advance to the semifinals, Saibari could yet return to action.

“He’s not ready, but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Ouahbi said.

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Soufiane Rahimi replaced Saibari against Canada and marked his introduction with Morocco’s third goal, giving the coach another attacking option ahead of the meeting with France.

Morocco will be aiming to avenge their 2-0 defeat to France in the semifinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they became the first African and Arab nation to reach the last four of the competition.

Despite already matching another impressive World Cup campaign, Ouahbi insisted his side is determined to go even further.

“We absolutely want to win the game, so we will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now,” said the coach, who took over from Walid Regragui in March.

“We will try to get to the semifinals. I don’t like this sentiment that we have already done well and anything else is a bonus,” added Ouahbi, who said he had watched the 2022 meeting of the sides as a fan, on television.

Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz also expressed confidence that Morocco can overcome one of the tournament favourites despite the absence of Saibari.

“We are playing one of the favourites, but we have shown we can compete, and that is why we are here. I have full faith and full confidence in the team.”