Will Ismael Saibari play tonight in France vs Morocco FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final clash?

The France vs Morocco match will take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, tonight.

Morocco take on France in a tough quarter-final clash in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 on July 9. The Atlas Lions will need to be at their best to get the better of tournament favourites, Les Bleus, and the African side will be without key player Ismael Saibari for the upcoming clash.

Saibari has been one of the standout players in the expanded 48-team World Cup in North America, scoring three goals in the first three matches of the tournament. He has been one of the key reasons why Mohamed Ouahbi’s side find themselves in the last eight.

However, he was brought off after just 22 minutes in the Round of 16 clash against Canada. Although the Maghrebis won the match 3-0 and booked a place in the quarter-finals, Saibari was diagnosed with a hamstring problem, putting his entire World Cup campaign in jeopardy.

Also Read: Ismael Saibari: List of all goals in FIFA World Cup history

Will Ismael Saibari play tonight?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

After the Canada match, Saibari underwent an MRI scan in Boston on Monday. The results were encouraging, indicating that the hamstring injury is not too severe. As a result, the Bayern Munich forward should play a part in the later stages of the tournament should the Atlas Lions survive tonight.

However, tonight’s match came too soon for Saibari, who is still recovering from the injury.

🚨Ismael Saibari will miss Morocco-France game.“He’s not ready today, too early… I hope he can be available for the next game”, Morocco head coach has confirmed.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/XllyWpRavB

— Khel Now World Football (@KhelNowWF) July 9, 2026

“Everyone’s available, except Saibari, with the match coming too early for him, although he’s not out for the rest of the tournament, I hope,” Ouahbi said in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “Everyone’s available, although we, of course, will only select the players who are at 100%.”

The head coach also expressed his confidence in the rest of the players in his squad, who will need to step up in the injury-enforced absence of a key player. Soufiane Rahimi replaced Saibari in the last match and scored a late goal, and is expected to start tonight.

“When you want to go very far in a competition, you need everybody, and the players who cannot be in the starting 11 know that they have the opportunity to finish the match,” the head coach said.

“We have starters, and then when others are subbed in, they can make a difference on the pitch for us. This is a positive for the group, and it’s something that gives us a lot of confidence.”

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