France fail with Olise appeal & Saibari ruled out

This post was originally published on this site.

Olise yellow card stands as Saibari out for Morocco

France forward Michael Olise clashes with Paraguay's Matias Galarza during their last-16 tie at the 2026 World CupImage source, Getty Images
ByMandeep Sanghera

BBC Sport journalist
  • Published

France have failed in their bid to have Michael Olise’s yellow card from their win against Paraguay overturned.

The Bayern Munich winger was booked after clashing with Matias Galarza in stoppage time during France’s 1-0 victory in a fiery last-16 match in Philadelphia.

Galarza fell to the ground after Olise grabbed his shirt during the altercation.

Olise, who has five assists at the 2026 World Cup, would miss his country’s semi-final against Spain or Belgium if France manage to beat Morocco in their quarter-final on Thursday (21:00 BST) and he receives another yellow card.

“The yellow card has not changed. We were notified by Fifa this morning, it has been maintained,” said France manager Didier Deschamps on Wednesday prior to the game at Boston Stadium.

Olise’s bookings stands, despite Fifa suspending a red card for United States striker Folarin Balogun at the tournament which meant he was available for a last-16 tie against Belgium.

Bradley Barcola and Manu Kone were also booked for France against Paraguay, who did not receive any yellow cards from referee Ilgiz Tantashev during the match.

Paraguay’s Gustavo Velazquez attempted to scuff the penalty spot before Kylian Mbappe put away the spot-kick for the winner, while France defender Dayot Upamecano received an elbow in the ribs from Gabriel Avalos and Andres Cubas went through Les Bleus midfielder Adrien Rabiot with a poor tackle.

Former England keeper Joe Hart said the South American side had “gone way too far” with some of their antics in the match, while fellow BBC Sport pundit Thomas Hitzlsperger said it was “probably the worse referee performance I’ve seen at this tournament”.

In the aftermath of the match, Mbappe condemned a Paraguayan senator as “despicable” and unworthy of her position after she made a number of racist remarks mocking his origin and education.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

This video can not be played

Saibari sidelined for Morocco

Morocco will be without key player Ismael Saibari as they try to avenge their defeat by France in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

Saibari scored in each of his side’s group games, with goals in a 1-1 draw with Brazil, 1-0 win against Scotland and 4-2 victory against Haiti.

The 25-year-old, who has moved from PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich this summer, also converted the winning penalty against the Netherlands in their last-32 tie.

However, Saibari was forced to come off after 22 minutes with a hamstring issue during Morocco’s 3-0 win against co-hosts Canada in the last 16.

“He’s not ready but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” said Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi.

Hot this week

The new crypto tax rules investors need to prepare for now

Crypto investors are being urged to ensure they have...

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuse

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuseByAlastair...

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuse

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuseByAlastair...

Most popular baby names for boys and girls in 2025 revealed

The Office for National Statistics releases its annual data on baby names, with Olivia remaining most popular for girls and Muhammad for boys.

Topics

The new crypto tax rules investors need to prepare for now

Crypto investors are being urged to ensure they have...

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuse

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuseByAlastair...

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuse

Female players 69% more likely to suffer online abuseByAlastair...

Most popular baby names for boys and girls in 2025 revealed

The Office for National Statistics releases its annual data on baby names, with Olivia remaining most popular for girls and Muhammad for boys.

McEnroe and Murray explain why Fery is ruling Wimbledon

Good tennis IQ & inner belief - how Fery...

McEnroe, Henman & Murray on why Fery is ruling Wimbledon

Good tennis IQ and inner belief - how British wildcard Arthur Fery has reached defied the odds to reach a shock Wimbledon semi-final.
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img