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.
20JUL
Injury doubt over Saibari for France tie
1 min read
11:05UTC
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
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Argentine Football Association
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Barcelona
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FIFA
FIFA restructured its Club Benefits Programme to split $350m across qualifying as well as the finals, the published mechanism it cites when a club's tournament payment falls even as the overall pool grows on record revenue. The reallocation reaches clubs that supply qualifiers but never a finalist, the constituency FIFA needs behind any 2030 expansion vote.
Fox Sports
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Sky Sports
Sky Sports put its own name on the tournament's first goal total, 308 across 104 matches, published 20 July because FIFA's technical report was not ready to. An independent tally from SoccerAnalytics.net reconciled to the same number, but the figure entering wider circulation carries a broadcaster's byline, not FIFA's.