DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Kylian Mbappé will meet his good friend Achraf Hakimi again at this World Cup..
Not like the first time in Qatar last week, when the The star of France went to visit his teammate from Paris Saint-Germain at the Morocco team hotel in downtown Doha.
On Wednesday, Mbappé will be marked by Hakimi in a World Cup semi-final: his way into the well-defended Moroccan goal by the French left wing blocked by a player he values highly.
“ACHRAF HAKIMI. THE BEST RB IN THE WORLD”, wrote Mbappé in English. on his Twitter account in Januaryreferring to the right-back position Hakimi holds for club and country.
It is a high-level duel as both are approaching a World Cup summit that would be historic for either team.
Mbappé vs. Hakimi: The tournament’s top scorer with five goals in five games against the standout talent in the tournament’s best defense he has conceded only once, and it was an own goal.
It was the start of a beautiful friendship when the Moroccan player joined Mbappé at PSG in July 2021 from Inter Milan for a €60 million ($63 million) transfer.
Two youngsters born several weeks apart in 1998, just months after France won their first World Cup title, soon hit it off.
Hakimi has spoken that they share the same tastes in music and video games, and that Mbappé helps his friend from Madrid to learn French.
Hakimi is a devout Muslim and for the Eid Mubarak holiday this year they teamed up for a video shared by their club.. Hakimi guided Mbappé, who has family ties to Algeria, Morocco’s North African neighbor, through tasting food from the Arab region.
On the French champion’s pitch, they have a series of rehearsed handshakes and goal celebrations.. Playing for PSG gives them a lot of opportunities.
“It’s easy to play with a player like him,” Hakimi said of Mbappé. “To give him the ball knowing that he will make the difference.”
Mbappé has been the difference in this World Cup, especially when he scored two goals in the victories over Denmark in the group stage and Poland in the round of 16.
In Saturday’s quarter-final, Mbappé was controlled as much as possible by speedy English right-back Kyle Walker. He only had one clear shooting opportunity that went high and wide.
Still, he was involved in the play that led to France’s first goal in a 2–1 win. and the decisive late winner followed up with a corner down the left flank which he helped set up.
Morocco’s defense has remained an immovable force and all of their European opponents so far – Croatia, Belgium, Spain and Portugal – have failed to score in four complete games plus extra time for the Spaniards.
Hakimi has helped limit Morocco’s opponents to just 10 combined goal attempts, according to FIFA’s post-game statistics. Canada got an own goal from defender Nayef Aguerd in the 2-1 Victory for Morocco.
Mbappé, for his part, has had 10 shots on target alone for a France team whose total of 11 goals is the best of the four semi-finalists.
At the Al Khor stadium on Wednesday, Mbappé continues his goal of becoming the youngest player other than Pelé to hold two World Cup titles. France may become the first to retain their title since Pelé and Brazil in 1962.
Hakimi wants to be among the first African players to reach a World Cup final. That would be against Croatia or Argentina, whose star Lionel Messi also plays for Qatar-owned PSG.
May the best friend win.
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