France winger Michael Olise will carry his yellow card into the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals after the French Football Federation failed in its appeal to have the booking overturned.
The Bayern Munich star was cautioned in stoppage time during France's heated 1-0 Round of 16 victory over Paraguay in Philadelphia after grabbing the shirt of Matias Galarza, who went to ground during the confrontation.
Olise, who has registered five assists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is now one booking away from suspension. Should France defeat Morocco on Thursday and Olise receive another yellow card, he would miss a potential semi-final against either Spain or Belgium.
"The yellow card has not changed. We were notified by FIFA this morning, it has been maintained," France manager Didier Deschamps said on Wednesday ahead of the quarter-final in Boston.
The decision comes despite FIFA controversially suspending the one-match ban handed to United States striker Folarin Balogun, allowing him to feature in his country's Round of 16 defeat to Belgium after intervention from US President Donald Trump.
France's Bradley Barcola and Manu Kone were also booked against Paraguay, while referee Ilgiz Tantashev did not issue a single yellow card to the South American side.
The match featured several contentious incidents, including Gustavo Velazquez attempting to scuff the penalty spot before Kylian Mbappe converted the decisive spot-kick. Defender Dayot Upamecano was struck with an elbow to the ribs by Gabriel Avalos, while Andres Cubas produced a heavy challenge on midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said Paraguay had "gone way too far" with their physical approach, while BBC Sport pundit Thomas Hitzlsperger described it as "probably the worst referee performance I've seen at this tournament."
Following the match, Mbappe also condemned a Paraguayan senator as "despicable" and unworthy of public office after she made racist remarks about his background and education.
Morocco have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of their quarter-final clash with France, with influential midfielder Ismael Saibari ruled out through injury.
The Atlas Lions will be hoping to avenge their 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final defeat to France, but will have to do so without one of their standout performers.
Saibari scored in all three group-stage matches, finding the net against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti, before converting the winning penalty in Morocco's Round of 32 victory over the Netherlands.
The 25-year-old, who joined Bayern Munich from PSV Eindhoven this summer, suffered a hamstring injury after just 22 minutes of Morocco's 3-0 victory over co-hosts Canada in the Round of 16.
"He's not ready, but I hope it's not the end of the tournament for him," Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi said.
