Morocco will be without star forward Ismael Saibari for Thursday's World Cup quarter-final against France after he failed to recover from a hamstring injury.
Head coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed Saibari's absence in a pre-match press conference, dealing a significant blow to the Atlas Lions' hopes of reaching the semi-finals for the second consecutive World Cup.
Ouahbi revealed that the injury sustained in Morocco's Round of 32 victory over Canada has not healed in time for the France clash.
"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.
"Everyone's available, although we, of course, will only select the players who are at 100 per cent."
Saibari, 24, was forced off early in Morocco's 3-0 win over Canada, limping off after just 11 minutes. The midfielder has been a key figure for the Atlas Lions at the tournament, starting all three group matches before the injury cut his campaign short.
Morocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2022, and they are now aiming to repeat that feat against the 2018 champions.
France, led by Kylian Mbappe, are the favourites heading into the clash, but Morocco will be hoping to produce another shock result despite Saibari's absence.
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