Achraf Hakimi won a double victory this Sunday: by guiding his teammates towards qualification for the quarter-finals of CAN 2025, first, but by being started for the first time in 61 days and his exit in tears at the Parc des Princes after having suffered a dangerous tackle from Luis Diaz (0-2). The Parisian played the entire match with the captain’s armband, worn by Bounou during Morocco’s last two matches after the injury to Romain Saïss during the opening match.
The performance of the PSG right-back can be summed up by his decisive contribution in the 64th minute: the Moroccan number 2 ideally served Brahim Diaz in depth on the right side, before the Real Madrid winger deceived Hussein Massalanga with a right-footed shot from a tight angle. A simple pass but at the right tempo which illustrates Hakimi’s application and ability to create gaps by combining with his teammates.
The African Ballon d’Or even came close to scoring by catapulting a powerful free kick with his right foot onto the crossbar (60th), while “Hakimi!” Hakimi! » had just resounded in a Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium entirely committed to his cause. He was also at the origin of the main interesting situations for the Moroccans by participating in a collective combination close to being concluded by a header from El Kaabi (24th), and delivered an ideally measured cross which would have deserved to be decisive to the center forward specialist in returners (55th).
“He grew up during the match”
The captain of the Atlas Lions had however started his match on the reserve, without daring the projections which are usually his strength at PSG, preferring to integrate into the Moroccan rearguard. On the defensive level, he also let go of the marking at the far post on the Tanzanian striker Simon Nsuva, who would have opened the scoring alone against the empty goal if he had aimed his head when receiving a powerful cross from Abdul Suleiman (3rd). If Hakimi then made up for it by recovering precious balls (4th, 28th), the 6th in the last Ballon d’Or reminded us in the second half that he has too much creative potential to simply cover his lane.
His rise in power throughout the match symbolizes that of his team. “He grew up during the match, he found his bearings a little,” said Moroccan coach Walid Regragui at a press conference after the match, before adding: “He still has bearings to find with Brahim and the midfielder who will play on their side, today it was Bilal [El Khanouss] ».
“We had to take the risk that he played 90 minutes”
The coach who took the Atlas Lions to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup believes that Hakimi will be able to further raise his level of play in the next round. “We will see the best of Achraf in the quarter-finals. We had to take the risk of him playing 90 minutes, because the pace of the competition, you can work on it as much as you want, it remains a direct elimination match where there is a lot of tension,” judged Regragui.
A particular tension for Hakimi, faced with expectations concerning his physical condition as well as his ability to make his team’s play more fluid, which the Parisian full-back will have been able to withstand this Sunday – a new victory.
