France has unsuccessfully petitioned to overturn a yellow card given to Michael Olise during their 1-0 round-of-16 victory over Paraguay. The Bayern Munich winger, who currently leads the World Cup with five assists, was cautioned for a shirt-pulling incident involving Matias Galarza. Manager Didier Deschamps confirmed that FIFA decided to uphold the booking.
Olise must now exercise caution during Thursday’s quarter-final against Morocco; another yellow card would result in a suspension for the semi-final. The match against Paraguay was notably intense, drawing heavy criticism from pundits regarding the officiating of referee Ilgiz Tantashev and the conduct of the Paraguayan team.
Meanwhile, Morocco will be missing star forward Ismael Saibari for the upcoming quarter-final. The 25-year-old, who transferred from PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich this summer, suffered a hamstring injury just 22 minutes into their win over Canada. Coach Mohamed Ouahbi noted that while Saibari is currently unavailable, there is hope he could return if the team advances further in the tournament.
