With an age gap of only a year, the French striker and the Moroccan right-back have a relationship that is similar to Cristiano Ronaldo‘s relationship with Real Madrid defender Marcelo.
In fact, the PSG duo has been an absolute item on the pitch whenever the striker has managed to find the back of the net with hilarious celebrations and tomfoolery that delight football fans all around the world.
And yet, the World Cup will see an interesting fixture as these two best friends go up against each other in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semifinals as Hakimi’s Moroccan side goes up against Les Bleus.
Now, Kylian Mbappe’s side, France has been in phenomenal form throughout the tournament and is being touted as the team with the highest probability of winning the 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup.
Should France win this World Cup, they will become the first country in 6 decades to become World Champions twice in a row, and Mbappe, himself, will become a 2-time world champion before he turns 25 years old – a feat that only a handful of players have managed in the past.
However, should Morocco manage to scamper past Les Bleus as they did past Ronaldo’s Portugal, Hakimi will go down in history as a member of the first Moroccan squad to ever be a finalist in the FIFA World Cup.
Against this backdrop, the internet has regurgitated a clip from earlier this year, and we must say, it has aged like fine wine.
The clip shows Mabppe taunting Hakimi who seems to be very shy in front of the camera. Of course, this is just friendly banter between the Frenchman and the Moroccan.
Mbappe, in the clip, says, “We are here in the Education City Stadium. 40,000 people can come here. France-Tunisia, I hope we’ll win, and then we’ll play against Morocco.”
The 23-year-old striker then holds his words and shoots a cold and roguish stare toward Hakimi and says, “I have to destroy my friend.”
Of course, Hakimi refused to back down from Mbappe’s good-natured taunt and retorted, “I’m going to kick him.”
Mbappe presumably talking about his earlier statement says, “That’ll break my heart a little bit, but you know, it’s football… it is what it is.”
The clip ends with Mbappe chuckling a friendly warning to Hakimi saying that he’ll have to kill him.
Throwback to January 2022, when Kylian Mbappé predicted he would face Achraf Hakimi at the World Cup:
Mbappé: "I will have to destroy my friend… It will break my heart a little but that's football."
It is worth noting that Morocco has gone on to defeat the moguls of the sport in this edition of the World Cup, and Hakimi has been a particularly decisive and clinical presence on the pitch.
In any case, the result of Mbappe’s amateur videography is bound to be a treasure trove for Twitterati and the media after the France vs. Morocco fixture.
