Morocco will be without influential forward Ismael Saibari for their FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final against France after the PSV Eindhoven player failed to recover from a hamstring injury…reports Africa Daily News Desk
Morocco will be without influential forward Ismael Saibari for their FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final against France after the PSV Eindhoven attacker failed to recover from a hamstring injury sustained during the Atlas Lions’ 3-0 Round of 16 victory over Canada.
Saibari has been one of Morocco’s standout performers at the tournament, scoring in all three group-stage matches before converting the decisive penalty in the Round of 32 shootout victory over the Netherlands.
“He’s not ready but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi told reporters, according to Reuters.
Despite losing one of his key attacking players, Ouahbi said Morocco would not abandon the approach that has taken them to the last eight.
“With regards to preparing for the match, there will not be any surprises. I have nothing to hide. I’m not somebody who is keen on surprises, and those of you who have analysed our games, you know that we have a clear idea of how we want to play,” he said.
“Of course, the key will be to hurt them when we have possession, but it’s not only on the wings. We have to be patient with the ball, and to find where we can go through on the sides or in the centre.”
“We’ve proven that we can hurt any team, and that’s the goal. But I’m not going to go into too many details,” he added.
The quarter-final is a rematch of the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final, in which France ended Morocco’s historic campaign with a 2-0 victory. However, Ouahbi believes both sides have developed significantly since then.
“Every match is different, has its own context, its own history, and it’s not going to be the same as in 2022,” he said.
“What is important is that now we have a team that is different. We’re going to face a different French team than the one from four years ago. Both teams are even better and that’s normal because we are two federations, two countries that work very well.”
Ouahbi also dismissed suggestions that reaching the quarter-finals should be viewed as Morocco’s ultimate achievement.
“I always like to say that we’ll take stock of the situation at the end of the tournament,” he said. “We’re not going to listen to people who will say, ‘Oh, it’s great what you have done up till now’. France might be favourites, but we were going to do everything possible to win. Being at this stage is not a bonus. The bonus is to win the World Cup.”
France head into the contest in Foxborough with five wins from five matches. Didier Deschamps’ side topped Group I before defeating Sweden and edging past Paraguay in the Round of 16 through a Kylian Mbappe penalty.
Mbappe has scored seven goals in the tournament and leads a French attack that also features Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola as Les Bleus seek a third successive FIFA World Cup semi-final appearance.
Morocco, unbeaten in 10 matches since January’s Africa Cup of Nations final, will be aiming to record their first victory over France after four defeats and two draws in their previous six meetings. The winners will face either Spain or Belgium in the semi-finals.
