Ismael Saibari has been officially ruled out of Morocco’s World Cup quarter-final clash with France on Thursday after sustaining a hamstring injury. Moroccan star Saibari had been the breakout performer for his side throughout the tournament and now will miss out as his nation looks to seal a place in the semi-finals for the first time.
Morocco, who reached the semi-finals in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – losing 2-0 to France in their semi-final encounter – were to face France for a place in this year’s semi-finals. Saibari was expected to be a vital player for them as they aimed to achieve a historic World Cup semi-final qualification.
Ismael Saibari Injury: Details on the Injury “He picked up the injury on 22 minutes against Canada. We confirmed after theMRI scan he had picked up a strain. I hope he won’t miss more matches than the quarter-final.
But the match comes too early for him.
He is only player injured,” Moroccan boss Ouahbi confirmed.
Ismael Saibari joined Bayern Munich on an initial €50m transfer from Dutch Eredivisie outfit PSV Eindhoven following the last World Cup, and he scored in all three of Morocco’s group stage fixtures at Qatar.
Against Canada in the Round of 16 at this tournament he set up Morocco’s opening two goals before going off through injury just over 20 minutes into the first half. After that he then converted Morocco’s winner from the penalty spot against the Netherlands in their Round of 32 tie. Soufiane Rahimi replaced him in the second half against Canada and scored his side’s third and final goal.
Tactical Implications The Atlas Lions head into Thursday’s clash with a wealth of confidence, and despite the absence of one of their star attackers, head coach Ouahbi stated they would not change their approach going into the game. “There will not be any surprises with regard to preparation of the match,”Ouahbi said in his pre-match press conference. “Our way of playing does not have surprises.
We have to go there to be very smart on the field… It is a great game and we will prepare well.”
Morocco’s attacking talent includes Brahim Diaz, the Real Madrid star. Spain and Belgium will clash in the other quarter-final.