All posts tagged: Saibari

Morocco’s Saibari scores fastest goal, USA qualify for knockouts

Morocco’s Saibari scores fastest goal, USA qualify for knockouts

3 min readJun 20, 2026 06:36 AM IST FIFA World Cup 2026 Highlights, June 20: Ismael Saibari’s 70th-second strike eventually proved to be the only differentiator in Morocco and Scotland’s Group C encounter at the Boston Stadium on Friday afternoon. Saibari’s lightning-fast strike is the earliest goal at this year’s World Cup and the fastest since Alphonso Davies’ 68-second goal for Canada against Croatia in 2022. The feat also makes him only the second African player, alongside Mohamed Salah, to find the back of the net in his first two World Cup appearances. Morocco, who reached the semifinals at the last World Cup in Qatar, drew 1-1 with Brazil in their Group C opener. FOLLOW LIVE: Brazil vs Haiti Live Score Updates Saibari slipped behind two Scotland defenders and Brahim Diaz dropped the ball over the top to him. Saibari gathered and blasted it into the top left corner of the net, well outside the reach of goalkeeper Angus Gunn. Saibari, currently linked with a summer move to Bayern Munich, owed his latest goal to …

Once snubbed for being overweight, Ismael Saibari stars for Morocco vs Brazil | Football News

Once snubbed for being overweight, Ismael Saibari stars for Morocco vs Brazil | Football News

4 min readJun 14, 2026 08:34 AM IST There is an incident from Ismael Saibari’s career that still rankles him to this day. It involves the time when Belgian club Anderlecht decided to cut him from the youth team as a 14-year-old. The reason: he was overweight. Although his career blew up after that snub, with him playing for clubs like PSV, where he was coached by legendary striker Ruud van Nistlerooy, Saibari still carries the scar of that incident. On Saturday, Saibari became the toast of the town back home in Morocco after scoring the team’s goal against Brazil in their FIFA World Cup opener at the New York New Jersey Stadium. Put through on goal by a perfectly weighted through ball from Brahim Diaz, the ball seemed to speed past Brazil’s two central defenders only to slow down for Saibari to chip it over the keeper Alisson with a split-second decision. The Anderlecht snub does come up frequently when Saibari does interviews. “I got an injury at Anderlecht and was getting less playing …