Morocco coach confirms Ismael Saibari will miss World Cup quarter-final against France

Ismael Saibari will miss Morocco’s World Cup quarter-final against France due to injury, with coach Mohamed Ouahbi hoping that he does not miss the rest of the tournament.

Saibari, 25, has been one of Morocco’s standout performers during their World Cup campaign. He has started all five of their games, scored in three of their group stage games, and his showings for his former club PSV and country earned him a move to Bayern Munich last month.

However, the versatile forward was substituted after 20 minutes during Morocco’s 3-0 victory over Canada in the previous round due to a hamstring injury.

When asked on Wednesday about Saibari’s availability for Morocco’s clash with France, Ouahbi said: “He’s ​not ready, but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him.”

Saibari has scored 12 goals in 35 games for Morocco, with four of them coming at major international tournaments.

He could be replaced by Soufiane Rahimi in the Morocco starting line-up. Rahimi, 30, is more of a centre-forward who has been deployed on the wing. He was substituted on in place of Saibarai in last week’s victory over Canada.

Morocco have kept two clean sheets in their five World Cup games but face a mighty task to overcome Didier Deschamps’ impressive France squad.

“Tomorrow, we are playing one of the favourites,” Ouahbi continued. “But we have shown we can compete, and that is why we are here.  I have full faith and full confidence in the team.”