Mazraoui limps off after 29 minutes in Morocco friendly to cast World Cup doubt

Manchester United right-back Noussair Mazraoui was forced off with an injury scare just 29 minutes into Morocco’s World Cup warm-up against Norway at the Sports Illustrated Stadium on Sunday night, casting doubt over his availability for the tournament’s opening days.

The severity of the issue remains unclear. Mazraoui went down feeling discomfort before being replaced by Youssef Belammari, leaving Morocco’s coaching staff with a fitness concern to monitor ahead of their Group C opener against Brazil at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday.

The timing is particularly unwelcome for the 27-year-old, who has spoken openly about Morocco’s heightened ambitions at this World Cup compared to their historic run to the semi-finals in Qatar in 2022. “Expectations are much higher than they were four years ago because we’ve reached that and because we’ve done pretty well the last four or five years,” Mazraoui said ahead of the tournament. “It’s up to us to handle that kind of pressure and to show again that you can do the same thing — and it’s not just luck.”

Mazraoui had also revealed he has been discussing the Brazil match with United team-mates Casemiro and Matheus Cunha, who is set to feature for Brazil. “Especially with Cunha, because he’s probably going to play left or right winger — if he’s on my side, then it’s 1v1, so it’s going to be fun,” he said.

Morocco will be hoping the injury is minor enough to allow Mazraoui to feature from the off against Brazil, with the Atlas Lions widely regarded as one of the stronger sides in a competitive Group C.