Ismael Saibari: goal threat meets pressing power

Sometimes football sounds simpler than it is. Ismael Saibari stands at the microphone after the World Cup group match against Brazil and explains his goal as if he’d just played a five-yard pass: won the ball, got going, spotted space, finished. It all happened within seconds, with no room for error.

The 21^st minute: Morocco have been defending a lot, closing down a lot of paths, waiting for this one turnover for a long time. Then it’s there. Saibari breaks free between Marquinhos and Gabriel, two top-class centre-backs, right into the gap. No sprint into the unknown, no speculative run. He’d have been offside half a second earlier. One of the two defenders would have been there half a second later.

The pass reaches him in precisely the brief window he created himself. Alisson has left his goal, the angle is getting tighter. Saibari later describes the moment with a calmness that almost makes him seem smaller: “Then all that’s left to do is finish.” Just that.

He doesn’t even control the ball first, his first touch is the shot. He had no choice, says Saibari. A perfectly weighted chip over the onrushing keeper. Not much force, no hesitation, no second thought. The ball goes up, down and ends up in the net.

The finish is the final part of a movement had already taken shape, rather than a brainwave. Perhaps that’s why Saibari describes it so calmly: it was easy for him at that moment. “As the ball left my foot, I knew immediately it would go in.”

It was the Moroccan’s first goal in his first World Cup match. Shortly afterwards, he boasted three goals from four matches, scored against the Netherlands in the Round of 32 – and converted the decisive penalty in the shootout. The World Cup sums up a development that had gathered pace at PSV, where Saibari has recently outgrown his role as a promising talent. He was named Player of the Year in the Eredivisie, scoring 15 and setting up eight goals in 27 league matches in 2025/26. Stats of a player who has been making an ever-greater impact in the final third every season: he made 19 appearances and was involved in nine goals in 23/24 and 29 appearances with 22 goal involvements in 24/25. Last season, he needed only 157 minutes per goal on average.

Saibari’s strengths: verstatile and determined

Saibari himself credits this leap to one thing: calmness. He once said he’d had similar chances in the past but had been too nervous at the decisive moments. Today, he seems more composed, also thanks to his daily work in training. The goal against Brazil illustrates this maturity. It comes from explosiveness, pace and depth, but also a quick decision for which other players need two touches. Saibari needs one.

This directness is one of the reasons his profile is a good fit for FC Bayern. His versatility is another. Saibari can’t be pinned down to a single position. At PSV he played as a central midfielder, an attacking midfielder, in the half-space, on the wing and even up front at times. He prefers to operate in areas near the box, where a run can tear the defence apart, where one touch can change the course of a game, where a finish can send a stadium into raptures.

Wonder goal in Champions League clash

Like on that Wednesday evening in January, when PSV lost 2-1 to FC Bayern in the final match of the league phase. Saibari played a one-two to break free just outside the box, controlled the ball and found the top corner of the net to level the scores in the 78^th minute. Jonas Urbig, who had made a number of strong saves, had no chance. For a moment, the match took a different turn.

The stats reflect that Saibari doesn’t shy away from finishing. He took the second-most shots (76) of all Eredivisie pros last season, 37 of them on target. “I think my style is best suited to the box – scoring goals and providing assists,” the attacking all-rounder once said. His versatility isn’t just a matter of positioning, it’s down to the whole package. Saibari pops up between the lines, controls the ball, drives forward, makes deep runs in behind the defence. He’s tall enough to withstand contact, agile enough to break free, technically strong enough to avoid easy ways out under pressure.

That’s another reason why he gets into one-on-one situations so often. At 48 successful dribbles, Saibari is among the Eredivisie’s top eight players. He has the pace to do it not only is his favourite posision in the centre but also on the wing. He was clocked at 32.9 km/h last Champions League campaign, on a par with Alphonso Davies and Luis Díaz.

And then there’s his left foot. As a child, Saibari trained regularly with his father, 50 or 60 shots only with his left foot, at the park, each afternoon. He hated it at first, Saibari said with a grin: “It paid off in the end.” Today, he usually doesn’t have to adjust the ball in many situations. He can finish from different angles, with either his right or left foot.

The second group match against Scotland showed the opportunities that opens up for him. Just 71 seconds had been played when the 25-year-old broke free down the right and let fly from a difficult angle. He didn’t have much time to set himself up, but his powerful drive found the top corner of the net. Morocco went on to win 1-0 and sealed a spot in the Round of 32 thanks to his goal.

Saibari’s strengths in defence

Dynamism, technique, power, instinct in the box: Saibari can come up with many solutions – and almost always chooses one direction. Towards goal. But this description doesn’t tell the full story. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of his game begins when an attack seems to have failed: in the seconds that follow, when the opponents try to stage a counter-attack.

Saibari stays in the thick of it. keeps pushing, throws his body into the next challenge, closes down passing lanes before they can be exploites. His reach allows him to get to balls that would be lost for others. With his physicality, he forces opponents into challenges they try to avoid. This is valuable in the half-spaces in particular, where the first step after losing the ball is often decisive: can the opponent make a run or can the counter-attack be thwarted? That’s why our new signing is such a good fit for Vincent Kompany’s approach.

His playing style reflects his journey

Ismael Saibari was born in Terrassa near Barcelona in 2001. His parents had lived there for many years, his Moroccan roots remained part of his identity. His family moved to Belgium because of the economic crisis when he was six years old. Saibari grew up and began his football training there. Anderlecht, Mechelen, Genk – several clubs and environments, many adjustments. He joined PSV aged 19.

He knows the path that takes patience. Youth teams, reserves, short appearances, new roles. He also knows the effort for the family that comes with it. After his debut for PSV, he talkes about his parents and said: “Since I was four, they’ve been taking me everywhere I need to go to play football. Now it’s paid off.”

Car trips and training sessions, the countless hours at the park, the next youth academy, the next attempt to make his breakthrough: Saibari has been through all that. From Terrassa to Belgium, from Genk to Eindhoven, from PSV to the World Cup – and now to FC Bayern. He joins as a forward with a drive towards goal, a physical presence in challenges and an instinct for pressing. As a player who finds solutions in the final third and immediately fights back after losing possession.

A lot traces back to this moment against Brazil: the space, the first step, the chip over Alisson. A lot of what marks Saibari out can be found in those few seconds. He recognises the moment, makes the run and the decision. And later explains it as if it all had followed an inner logic.

He won the ball, got going, spotted space, finished.

Very simple. If Ismael Saibari does it, that is.

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