Thursday, July 9
France Vs Morocco – 11pm
Friday, July 10
•Spain Vs Belgium – 10pm
Saturday, July 11
•Norway Vs England – 12am
•Argentina Vs Switzerland – 4am
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Morocco will be without influential forward Ismael Saibari for Thursday’s FIFA World Cup quarterfinal against France after he failed to recover from a hamstring injury.
Saibari picked up the injury during Morocco’s 3-0 Round of 16 victory over Canada and has not regained full fitness, head coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed on Wednesday.
“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 ahead of the clash in Boston.
The 24-year-old 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 shootout victory over the Netherlands in the Round of 32.
Saibari recently completed a reported €50 million move from PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich on a five-year contract.
Ouahbi remains hopeful the attacking midfielder could return if Morocco reach the semifinals.
“He’s not ready, but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” he added.
Striker Soufiane Rahimi, who replaced Saibari against Canada and scored Morocco’s third goal, is expected to start against France.
Morocco are aiming to avenge their 2-0 semifinal defeat to France at the 2022 World Cup, a tournament in which the Atlas Lions became the first African and Arab nation to reach the last four.
Ouahbi dismissed suggestions that reaching the quarterfinals should be considered enough.
“We absolutely want to win tomorrow. We will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now,” he said.
“We want to reach the semifinals. I don’t like the idea that we’ve already done well and anything else is a bonus.”
Morocco remain the only African country remaining in the competition after Egypt were controversially elininated by holders Argentina at the recent round of 16.
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