Ismael Saibari, Morocco's leading scorer at this World Cup, left the win over Canada on 22 minutes clutching his thigh, putting his place for the France quarter-final on Thursday 9 July in doubt 1. Saibari, a Bayern Munich midfielder, scored Morocco's opening goal against Brazil in the group stage and carried the attack through a run that included a penalty win over the Netherlands . Morocco's staff gave no prognosis at full time, and the short turnaround before Boston leaves little room to recover a thigh problem. Losing him would strip Morocco of its most productive attacker for the fixture that ended its 2022 campaign.
18JUL
Injury doubt over Saibari for France tie
1 min read
13:09UTC
Ismael Saibari, Morocco's top scorer, limped off against Canada on 22 minutes, casting doubt on his fitness to face France.
SportDeveloping
Key takeaway
Saibari's thigh injury may leave Morocco without its leading scorer against France on 9 July.
Deep Analysis
In plain English
Saibari just signed for Bayern Munich, one of Germany's biggest clubs, before this match even kicked off. A thigh injury is a strain in the big muscle at the front of the leg. It usually needs at least a couple of weeks of rest, which is why his place in Thursday's quarter-final is in doubt.
Root Causes
The 48-team World Cup compresses more high-intensity matches into six weeks than the closing stretch of a full European club season.
Soft-tissue problems, like the thigh strain that ended Saibari's afternoon on 22 minutes, cluster in exactly this fixture-dense period for players who, like him, have started every match so far.
Sources:Goal.com
First Reported In
Update #34 · Morocco knock out Canada, draw France again
Goal.com· 5 Jul 2026
Read original →Causes and effects
This Event
Injury doubt over Saibari for France tie
Morocco may reach the France quarter-final on 9 July without its leading scorer.
Different Perspectives
Spain
Spain now has their final opponent, referee, and match officials confirmed, with Slovenia's Slavko Vincic appointed to take charge of Sunday's game against Argentina. Their preparation is untouched by the disciplinary questions surrounding the other semi-finalists.
Falkland Islands Government Office
The Falkland Islands Government Office in London urged FIFA to 'sanction all behaviour of this nature', pressing its case as the population whose sovereignty status is being argued over by two national governments through a football tournament. Lowdown takes no position on the sovereignty question and reports it as a bilateral dispute.
FIFA
FIFA's Disciplinary Committee opened a review of the Malvinas banner rather than issuing an immediate sanction, saying only that it is considering the circumstances, while staying silent on whether it will act on the Bellingham footage at all. It heads into Sunday's final still needing to resolve both questions on its own uneven enforcement record.
England and the UK Government
Downing Street and Business Secretary Peter Kyle pressed FIFA over the banner, Kyle calling it an 'egregious violation', while the Football Association itself lodged no complaint and now watches to see whether Bellingham is charged over the Barco footage before tonight's bronze match. A weakened, further depleted squad plays the third-place game with Reece James and Jordan Henderson both out.
Argentina
Argentina's federation now faces a FIFA review over the Malvinas banner its supporters displayed after Wednesday's semi-final win, with the 2014 fine the only precedent for what follows. The tournament's individual prize race has turned in their favour too, Messi's four assists putting him ahead of Mbappe with two matches left to play.
France
France's tournament ended at the semi-final stage for the first time since 2010, beaten 2-0 by Spain in Arlington, and Kylian Mbappe's Golden Boot chances are reduced to Saturday's third-place game alone. The 2022 runners-up now play for bronze rather than a second straight final.