Soccer/Football

Manchester United star suffers potential World Cup injury nightmare in nation’s final pre-tournament friendly

Jun 7, 2026 - 22:00

Morocco have been handed a potential double injury blow less than a week before their World Cup opener.

Noussair Mazraoui was forced off just 29 minutes into their friendly with Norway on Sunday evening.

Noussair Mazraoui of Morocco exits the pitch injured during the international friendly match between Morocco and Norway — Mazraoui was forced off against Norway after suffering a first-half injury scare

The match is the 2022 semi-finalists’ final warm-up fixture before they begin their group stage campaign.

Mazraoui was withdrawn during the first half at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey.

The Manchester United defender had gone down feeling some discomfort before he was replaced by Youssef Belammari.

It is currently unclear the severity of the issue, with the decision to substitute Mazraoui potentially a precaution.

His injury scare comes six days before Morocco face Brazil in their first match in group C on Saturday, June 13.

Mazraoui has scored twice in 45 caps for his country since making his debut aged 20 back in 2018.

Those caps include five appearances at the previous World Cup four years ago.

Meanwhile, he was also part of the side which won the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil earlier this year.

Double injury blow

In another potential blow to the Atlas Lions, Abde Ezzalzouli went was forced off after colliding with team-mate Chadi Riad.

The Real Betis winger stayed down before being replaced by Soufiane Rahimi at half-time.

Noussair Mazraoui and Madagascar's player 05 Sandro Denis Tremoulet fight for the ball during the friendly football match between Morocco and Madagascar — Mazraoui was part of the Morocco side which reached the semi-finals in 2022

Morocco had been leading Norway 1-0 at the break thanks to Brahim Diaz‘s eighth-minute strike.

Manager Mohamed Ouahbi is able to call up one injury replacement to his final World Cup squad if a player is ruled out of the tournament.

However, this can only be done up to 24 hours before his side’s opening fixture.

The injury replacement can also only be called upon from the pool of players who were named in Ouahbi’s 55-man provisional squad.

When do Morocco play next?

Group C also includes both Scotland and Haiti, with Morocco facing the former in Foxborough, Massachusetts on June 19.

They then conclude their group stage campaign against Haiti five days later.

Abde Ezzalzouli shoots on goal during the international friendly football match between Morocco and Norway — Ezzalzouli was also taken off during Morocco’s friendly against Norway on Sunday

Morocco will be looking to emulate their historic performance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Their fourth-place finish saw them become the first African team ever to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.

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