Morocco suffer major Ismael Saibari injury blow ahead of France World Cup quarter-final

Morocco have been dealt a significant setback ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against France after confirming that star forward Ismael Saibari will miss the clash through injury.

The Bayern Munich attacker has failed to recover in time from the hamstring problem he sustained during Morocco’s victory over Canada, leaving the Atlas Lions without one of their most influential players.

Saibari ruled out with hamstring injury

Saibari picked up the injury just 22 minutes into Morocco’s convincing 3-0 Round of 16 win over Canada.

Although medical scans carried out in Boston indicated the damage was not serious, the 25-year-old has been unable to regain full fitness ahead of Thursday’s showdown with France.

The absence comes as a major blow for Morocco, with Saibari arriving at Bayern Munich this summer in a reported €50 million move after an outstanding campaign.

Ouahbi confirms absence

Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed the forward will not feature against Les Bleus but remains hopeful he could return later in the tournament if the Atlas Lions progress.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Ouahbi said:

“Everyone’s available, except Saibari, with the match coming too early for him, 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%.”

Morocco trust squad depth

Saibari has been one of Morocco’s standout performers throughout the tournament, scoring three goals before converting the decisive penalty in the Round of 32 victory over the Netherlands.

His absence is expected to hand Soufiane Rahimi the opportunity to lead the attack against France.

Despite losing one of his key players, Ouahbi remains confident his squad possesses enough quality to compete with the tournament favourites.

“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.”

“We have starters, and then when others are subbed in, they can make a difference on the pitch for us.”

“This is a positive for the group, and it’s something that gives us a lot of confidence.”

Morocco will now hope their impressive squad depth can compensate for Saibari’s absence as they bid to pull off another major upset and book a place in the World Cup semi-finals.