World Cup 2026: Morocco dealt major blow as key forward ruled out of France quarter-final

FOXBOROUGH: Morocco will be without influential forward Ismael Saibari for Thursday's FIFA World Cup quarter-final against France after he failed to recover in time from a hamstring injury, head coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed during Wednesday's pre-match press conference.

Saibari was forced off after just 22 minutes of Morocco's 3-0 last-16 victory over Canada in Houston on Saturday after suffering discomfort.

The 25-year-old underwent medical assessments, including an MRI scan following the team's arrival in Boston on Monday, which indicated the injury is not expected to end his tournament.

Saibari has not recovered in time to face France, but Ouahbi remains optimistic the forward will return if Morocco progress further in the tournament.

"Everyone's available, except Saibari, with the match coming too early for him," Ouahbi said.

"although he's not out for the rest of the tournament, I hope.

"Everyone's available, although we of course will only select the players who are at 100%."

Saibari has been one of Morocco's standout performers at the World Cup, scoring against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti during the group stage before converting the decisive penalty in the shootout victory over the Netherlands in the round of 32.

Earlier this month, he completed a reported €50 million (£43m) move from PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich, becoming the second most expensive Moroccan footballer in history behind Achraf Hakimi.

Soufiane Rahimi replaced Saibari against Canada and is expected to start against France, although Ouahbi expressed confidence in the depth of his squad.

"When you want to go very far in a competition, you need everybody, and the players who cannot be in the starting 11 know that they have the opportunity to finish the match," he added.

"The is a positive for the group, and it's something that gives us a lot of confidence."