Olise yellow card stands as Saibari out for Morocco
epa13087913 Andres Cubas of Paraguay (L) in action against Michael Olise of France (R) during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match Paraguay against France, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 04 July 2026. EPA/WILL OLIVER
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 the striker was available for a last-16 tie against Belgium. Balogun was sent-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina but controversially played in the 4-1 defeat with US president Donald Trump admitting he asked Fifa to review the decision. 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.
