Ayyoub Bouaddi and Ismael Saibari on the rise as they take charge for Morocco | OneFootball

Morocco face Gabon on Friday at 21:00 in AFCON qualifying with Ayyoub Bouaddi and Ismael Saibari assuming greater responsibility behind Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz. L'Équipe highlights that both arrived at elite clubs this summer, Bouaddi at Manchester City and Saibari at Bayern.

Bouaddi will turn 19 with the national team on 2 October and has rapidly won over supporters. In Marrakech’s souks his name trails only Diaz on replica shirts, and after a €100 million move to City he now attracts both the ball and the praise.

Used sparingly at club level, with one Champions League start, he drew warm reviews from coach Mohamed Ouahbi after a 1-1 draw with Brazil on 14 June, Morocco’s first World Cup opponents. Ouahbi has paired him with Neil El-Aynaoui in a high-intensity midfield, with Bilal El Khannouss pushing on.

Saibari, 25, left PSV for Bayern. Walid Regragui had expected a 2025 exit after a campaign of 14 goals and 11 assists across the Eredivisie and the Champions League. First called in September 2022 alongside El-Khannouss and Benjamin Bouchouari, he was then injured and missed the historic Qatar run that ended 0-2 against France.

Officially launched in September 2023, he became a favourite for his selfless movement, pressing and Spanish-style game intelligence. Regragui used him as one of the two eights or wide, dovetailing with Achraf on the right by drifting inside like a 10, and thriving on the left.

Regragui has also described him as patient and clinical, with goals lighting up AFCON 2025 qualifying. At the home tournament he ceded the spotlight to Diaz while delivering a tireless quarter-final against Cameroon, and even as a brief false nine under Ouahbi he kept scoring. With one goal and two assists in four Bundesliga matches, he now carries a leading role for Morocco.

Source: L'Équipe

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