Julien LaurensJul 8, 2026, 02:36 PM ET
In another life, Ayyoub Bouaddi would have been wearing the blue shirt of France in Boston for Thursday's World Cup quarterfinal -- not the red of Morocco. He would have been coached by France's Didier Deschamps, not by Mohamed Ouahbi. His partner in midfield would have been Adrien Rabiot, not Neil El Aynaoui -- another player born and raised in France, by the way, and who could also have been playing for the other side. His captain could be Kylian Mbappé, not Achraf Hakimi.
For many in France, "losing" a talent like the 18-year-old midfielder to Morocco is a massive mistake.
Born in Senlis, an hour north of Paris, and having represented France in every age group possible -- even captaining the U21 team at 17 -- Bouaddi wanted to play for the 2018 world champions. He even refused to play for Morocco several months ago in the Africa Cup of Nations, despite the former head coach Walid Regragui trying to convince him to choose the country of his parents.
Fast-forward six months, and the prodigy didn't want to wait any longer for his chance to play at the highest levels of international football. He didn't want to miss out on the 2026 World Cup.
Deschamps had a chance to call him up in the last international break in March (and even earlier than that, too) and take him to the U.S. with Les Blues. But it never came to pass.
Deschamps watched him play many times. He is well aware of Bouaddi's incredible talent -- clearly, based on this World Cup so far, Bouaddi has generational potential. Deschamps remembers seeing him making his professional debut at 16 for Lille. He watched him boss the Real Madrid midfield in the Champions League group stages on his 17th birthday in October 2024. Yet he preferred to bring N'Golo Kanté and Warren Zaïre-Emery as rotation options alongside his first-choice group of Manu Koné, Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni.
"In midfield, we have a lot of talent already and Didier doesn't want to block anyone," explained Guy Stephan, Deschamps' assistant, on Monday when asked why Bouaddi was not here with France. "Tchouaméni, Rabiot, Kanté, Zaïre-Emery, Koné ... If I ask you which one you would take out [to put Bouaddi], I am not sure I would have the same answer from all of you here."
It is true that the French midfield is very solid and talented. Yet Kanté is 35 and has not played a single minute yet in this tournament. He has a lot of experience and won the 2018 World Cup, but surely Bouaddi, as talented as he is, could have taken his place.
"[Bouaddi] has the freedom to choose which country he wants to play for," Deschamps said back in March. "I haven't spoken to him; this is not how I proceed.
"When I call up a player, it is because it is the right time or because I consider he can be useful for the France A team. Of course, we follow his performances. But obviously, there is strong competition in his position."
Zinedine Zidane, who will take over as France head coach after the World Cup, called Bouaddi on the phone a few weeks ago (probably alerted by the French FA in fear of losing the midfielder) and was honest with him. According to ESPN sources, Zidane told Bouaddi he liked him but couldn't make any promises.
Morocco, in contrast to France's uncertainty, was pushing for the midfielder to choose them. New head coach Mohamed Ouahbi guaranteed that Bouaddi would go to the 2026 World Cup and would even start in the U.S. That's all Bouaddi needed to make his mind up.
So, like five other teammates born in France -- including Issa Diop and El Aynaoui, who also played in the France youth team -- Bouaddi will face his country of birth on Thursday in what should be the best quarterfinal of the lot.
The French camp is looking forward to this encounter, a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semifinal in Qatar that Les Bleus won 2-0. It is the biggest test yet for them in this competition. They have beaten everyone in their path so far, either with style and flair like they did vs. Sweden in the round of 32, or with grit and fighting spirit as with Paraguay in the round of 16.
The injury to Tchouaméni, who will miss this game but should be back for a potential semifinal, is a huge blow, but it is the only footballing issue that Deschamps and his staff have had all tournament. For the rest, the French boss has enjoyed everything he has seen from his players.
His three main attackers -- Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise -- already have 20 goal involvements between them in this World Cup: seven goals and two assists for the captain, four goals and two assists for the Ballon d'Or holder and five assists for the Bayern Munich player. That is as many as Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho got in 2002 (15 goals and 5 assists between those three) when they won the World Cup with Brazil. And Les Bleus still have potentially three more games to play.
The vibe within the France squad is great. There is fun, camaraderie, solidarity, seriousness, hard work and respect. The tough time that Deschamps had with the passing of his mother earlier in the World Cup brought this group even more together, with Deschamps briefly returning home.
This is also Deschamps' final few days with his players, 14 years after taking over and eight years after bringing this team to the top. Thursday could be the end, or Deschamps' reign could continue a little longer. There are only three steps now separating them from another World Cup triumph.
France have been the favorites since Day 1 and are still very much that. Whether it is Bouaddi and Morocco on Thursday or someone else later, they will have to be very strong to stop them from going all the way.
Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49308168/after-rejecting-france-bouaddi-end-their-world-cup-morocco