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Boufal out as Benatia, Ziyech & Belhanda make Morocco's World Cup squad

Sofiane Boufal was not included in Morocco's squad for the World Cup after the Southampton playmaker lost his spot at the Premier League club.

Boufal, a club-record signing from Lille in August 2016, has not played in the Premier League since March following a dispute with Saints boss Mark Hughes.

And the 24-year-old appears to have paid for that lack of action by missing out on a place in Herve Renard's squad for the World Cup.

Real Madrid's teenage right-back Achraf Hakimi, who started eight LaLiga games in the 2017-18 season, is in Renard's final squad.

Morocco's final 23-man World Cup squad:

Yassine Bounou (Girona), Mounir El Kajoui (Numancia), Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti (Ittihad Tanger); Mehdi Benatia (Juventus), Badr Benoun (Raja Casablanca), Manuel Da Costa (Istanbul Basaksehir), Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce), Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid), Hamza Mendyl (Lille), Romain Saiss (Wolves); Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord), Youssef Ait Bennasser (Caen), Younes Belhanda (Galatasaray), Mbark Boussoufa (Al Jazira), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord), Faycal Fajr (Getafe), Amine Harit (Schalke); Nordin Amrabat (Leganes), Aziz Bouhaddouz (Saint Pauli), Khalid Boutaib (Malatyaspor), Mehdi Carcela (Standard Liege), Ayoub El Kaabi (Renaissance Berkane), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax).

Reserve list: Oualid El Hajjam (Amiens), Youssef En Nesyri (Malaga), Noussair Mazraoui (Ajax).