Saibari out of World Cup quarter-finals as Morocco takes on France

Morocco star Ismael Saibari will miss Thursday’s World Cup quarter-finals when his team faces France in an 11 pm showdown.

The news was confirmed yesterday by Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi, who said that he isn’t fit to play as they seek to muscle their way into the semis.

‘’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 a few hours before Thursday’s showdown at Gillette Stadium.

Saibari, who recently joined Bayern Munich from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on a 5-year contract for a fee of 50 million euros, has been one of the standout players for Morocco’s side in the ongoing FIFA World Cup tournament.

He scored in the three group games and also netted a winning goal during a penalty shootout against the Netherlands when the two met in the Round of 32.

However, the attacking midfielder was substituted early with a hamstring injury during their encounter with Canada in the last 16, where they hammered them 3-0 to book their spot in the quarter finals.

Soufiane Rahimi, who is an out-and-out striker, replaced Saibari in that game and secured the third goal for Morocco. The Atlas Lions will be seeking to avenge their defeat in the 2022 World Cup semi-finals when they were thrashed 2-0 by France.

Coach Ouahbi has, however, dismissed suggestions that his team can say they have already had a successful competition by getting to the quarter- finals.

‘’We absolutely want to win the game tomorrow, so we will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now,’’ he said.

Tomorrow we will try to get to the semi-finals. I don’t like this statement that we have already done well and anything else is a bonus, he added.

France team, which previously qualified for the 2022 World Cup finals, will be keen to eliminate Morocco and book their slot in the semi-finals. The giants were beaten by Argentina in the 2022 World Cup finals in the penalty shootout, after the two teams went level after extra time.

The winner of the match will proceed to the semi-finals of the competition, which will be played this month