Moroccan Player Saibari Ruled Out of World Cup Quarterfinal Clash with France

Morocco's Ismael Saibari will be absent from his team's World Cup quarter-final match against France, as confirmed by coach Mohamed Ouahbi on Wednesday, with the player still recovering from an injury.

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Ouahbi revealed that every player, except Saibari, is 100 percent fit, and while the upcoming game is too soon for him, the coach hopes he won't be out for the remainder of the competition.

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Saibari, who recently joined Bayern Munich from PSV Eindhoven on a five-year deal worth 50 million euros ($57 million), has been a standout player at the World Cup, scoring in each of Morocco's three group games and converting the winning penalty in the shoot-out against the Netherlands.

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However, he suffered a hamstring problem in the 3-0 win against Canada in the last 16 and has not yet recovered, with Soufiane Rahimi replacing him in that game and scoring Morocco's third goal.

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Morocco is seeking to avenge their 2-0 defeat against France in the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, a tournament where they became the first African or Arab team to reach the last four.

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The team's goal is to match their previous run, with coach Ouahbi dismissing suggestions that reaching the quarter-finals is already a successful tournament for them.

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Ouahbi emphasized that his team wants to win the upcoming game, and will not be satisfied with just having reached the quarter-finals, stating "we will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now".

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The coach, who took over from Walid Regragui in March, aims to lead his team to the semi-finals, and dislikes the sentiment that they have already done well and anything else is a bonus.

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Ouahbi, who watched the 2022 meeting between Morocco and France as a fan on television, is now preparing to face the same opponent as a coach.

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Morocco's Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz expressed his confidence in his team's ability to compete with France, stating "tomorrow we are playing one of the favourites but we have shown we can compete and that is why we are here".

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Diaz, who will face his club colleague Kylian Mbappe, added that he has full faith and full confidence in his team's abilities.