France have been unsuccessful in their attempt to overturn Michael Olise’s yellow card ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against Morocco.
The Bayern Munich winger was booked in stoppage time during France’s 1-0 last-16 victory over Paraguay following a confrontation with Matias Galarza. Olise grabbed the midfielder’s shirt during the incident, with Galarza falling to the ground.
Fifa has reviewed the case but decided the caution will remain in place. It means Olise, who has provided five assists during the 2026 World Cup, will miss a potential semi-final against Spain or Belgium if he receives another yellow card against Morocco.
“The yellow card has not changed. We were notified by Fifa this morning, it has been maintained,” France manager Didier Deschamps confirmed before the match in Boston.
The decision comes after Fifa recently suspended a red card shown to United States forward Folarin Balogun, allowing him to play in the last-16 defeat against Belgium. Balogun had been dismissed against Bosnia-Herzegovina, with US president Donald Trump later saying he had asked Fifa to review the incident.
France were frustrated by several moments during the Paraguay match. Bradley Barcola and Manu Kone were also booked, while Paraguay avoided any yellow cards despite a number of controversial challenges.
Gustavo Velazquez attempted to damage the penalty spot before Kylian Mbappe scored the winning goal, while Gabriel Avalos caught Dayot Upamecano with an elbow and Andres Cubas made a heavy tackle on Adrien Rabiot.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said Paraguay had taken their approach “way too far”, while ex-Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger described the refereeing display as one of the worst he had seen at the tournament.
After the game, Mbappe also criticised a Paraguayan senator following racist comments made about his background, calling the remarks “despicable”.
Meanwhile, Morocco have been dealt a major setback before facing France, with midfielder Ismael Saibari ruled out through injury.
The 25-year-old has been one of Morocco’s standout performers at the tournament, scoring in all three group games against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti before converting the decisive penalty in the shootout victory over the Netherlands.
Saibari, who completed a summer move from PSV Eindhoven to Bayern Munich, suffered a hamstring injury after just 22 minutes of Morocco’s 3-0 win against co-hosts Canada in the last 16.
Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed the midfielder will not recover in time for the quarter-final but remains hopeful he could feature again if the team progress.
“He’s not ready but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Ouahbi said.