{"id":119453,"date":"2026-07-09T17:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T16:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/?p=119453"},"modified":"2026-07-09T17:57:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T16:57:43","slug":"world-cup-picks-saibari-injury-gives-france-major-edge-in-quarterfinal-clash-with-morocco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/soccer\/world-cup-picks-saibari-injury-gives-france-major-edge-in-quarterfinal-clash-with-morocco\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup picks: Saibari Injury Gives France Major Edge in Quarterfinal Clash With Morocco"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":118910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[780],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"acf":{"brief_description":"Mbapp\u00e9 headlines the best betting plays as France looks poised to capitalize on Morocco's depleted attack and generate sustained offensive pressure","auto_update_sportal365":true,"property_type":["","run_ads","","","",""],"main_image":118911,"authors":false,"custom_author":"Mark Keast","type":"news","properties":{"ads_enabled":true,"adult_content":false,"important":false,"live":false},"live_url":"","type_of_redirect":"permanent","body":[{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"<p>On the sports betting front, huge news out of Morocco\u2019s camp, with word that star forward Ismael Saibari will miss their quarterfinal World Cup match today against France.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Saibari has a hamstring injury and was in obvious discomfort after he was replaced 22 minutes into Morocco\u2019s Round of 16 match against Canada on Sunday. Head coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed the news.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Ouahbi said his absence is a significant loss, but Morocco won\u2019t fundamentally chance its tactical approach, per Reuters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">That\u2019s impacting betting lines, understandably. Saibari is the heartbeat of Morocco\u2019s attack, a squad that\u2019s ranked No. 6 in the world right now.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">He has three goals in the tournament \u2013 scoring the opener against Brazil, the winner against Scotland, and the typing goal in the match against Haiti.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Saibari is the quarterback out there, whose ability to carry the ball through midfield, driving at defenders, creates space for players like Brahim Diaz and Azzedine Ounahi.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">It\u2019s a big, big loss for Morocco, going up against No. 1-ranked France. The team loses its best progressive ball carrier between the lines, its top scorer, so France can focus more on players like Diaz and Achraf Hakimi.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">ESPN is reporting that Soufiane Rahimi, who came off the bench to replace Saibiri against the Canadians, will likely replace him to help lead the offence against France.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Today\u2019s match is at 4 p.m. EST, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. In <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"editor-link\" href=\"https:\/\/betway.com\/g\/en\/sports\/grp\/soccer\/world-cup-2026\/matches\"><u><strong>World Cup betting<\/strong><\/u><\/a><strong> at Betway, France is -167, Morocco +500, with a draw priced at +275.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">With the Saibiri news, I just don\u2019t see the Moroccans getting by France, so I am taking the obvious France moneyline for this one.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 has been brilliant for France all tournament and enters the quarterfinal fully fit, sitting second to Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race with seven goals in five games. If Morocco sits back, as it did for stretches of the first half against Canada, France has the marksman Canada lacked. That makes Mbapp\u00e9 Anytime Goalscorer (-120) an appealing play.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">If you&#8217;re looking at set-piece props, Over 10.5 Total Corners (+125) is a strong play. France earned 12 corners against Paraguay and 21 across its last two knockout victories. If Morocco sits deep, expect France to dominate possession, forcing more blocked shots, crosses and, ultimately, corners.<\/p>\n"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119454,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119453\/revisions\/119454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}