Ez Abde isn’t going home. Not yet, anyway.
The 24-year-old Real Betis winger, one of Morocco’s most dynamic attacking threats, sustained a medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee during a pre-World Cup friendly against Norway around June 8. Rather than cut him from the roster and call up a replacement, Morocco’s coaching staff has chosen to keep Abde in camp while monitoring his recovery.
What happened and what it means for the group stage
The injury came from friendly fire, which makes it sting a little more. Teammate Chadi Riad accidentally fell onto Abde during the Norway match, causing the MCL sprain in his right knee. The diagnosis came back as moderate, which in medical terms sits in that frustrating middle ground between “he’ll be fine” and “he’s done.”
Recovery estimates put the timeline at 2 to 4 weeks. In English: Abde is almost certainly going to miss the group stage entirely.
