Injured Salah unsurprisingly included in Morocco’s World Cup squad

Morocco included Spain-based forward Youssef En Nesyri in its World Cup squad at the expense of defender Badr Banoun.

Banoun was Morocco's captain for the African Nations Championship — a tournament for home-based players only — at the start of the year but lost his place in the final 23-man squad for Russia to accommodate an extra attacker.

En Nesyri is a 21-year-old striker who plays for Malaga and joins a list of seven forwards named by coach Herve Renard.

Renard's squad also includes Juventus defender Mehdi Benatia, midfielders Mbark Boussoufa and Younes Belhanda, and Ajax forward Hakim Ziyech.

Morocco is in a tough group at the World Cup. It starts in Group B against Iran before facing Portugal and then Spain.

Mohamed Salah, shoulder injury and all, was unsurprisingly named in Egypt's World Cup squad on Monday.

The Liverpool forward was hurt in the first half of the Champions League final and is doubtful for the team's opening match against Uruguay on June 14.

Egypt's final warm-up match will be against Belgium in Brussels on Wednesday.

Salah, the Premier League's top scorer, almost singlehandedly led Egypt to its first World Cup since 1990. But there have been conflicting reports about how long it would take him to recover, with the Egyptian Football Association optimistically saying he would be ready for the World Cup. After Uruguay, Egypt will face host Russia on June 19 and play Saudi Arabia on June 25 in Group A.

Mounir Mohamedi (Numancia), Yassine Bounou (Girona), Ahmad Reda Tagnaouti (Ittihad Tanger)

Mehdi Benatia (Juventus), Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Manuel Da Costa (Basaksehir), Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce), Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid), Hamza Mendyl (Lille)

Mbark Boussoufa (Al Jazira), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord), Youssef Ait Bennasser (Caen), Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord), Younes Belhanda (Galatasaray), Faycal Fajr (Getafe), Amine Harit (Schalke)

Khalid Boutaib (Malatyaspor), Aziz Bouhaddouz (St. Pauli), Ayoub El Kaabi (Renaissance Berkane), Nordin Amrabat (Leganes), Mehdi Carcela (Standard Liege), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax), Youssef En Nesyri (Malaga)