ACHRAF
HAKIMI

Morocco hosted AFCON 2025 from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026. Hakimi captained the squad through six matches: a Group A topping, a round-of-16 win over Mali, a quarter-final win over Côte d'Ivoire, and a semi-final 4-2 penalty win over Nigeria at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca. He played every minute of every Morocco match.

The final at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on 18 January 2026 ended 1-0 to Senegal after extra time, with Pape Gueye scoring in the 94th minute. The 17 March 2026 CAF Appeal Board ruling — that Senegal had forfeited the match by walking off the pitch for 14 minutes in protest of a stoppage-time penalty — awarded Morocco a 3-0 forfeit win and the title. Hakimi accepted the trophy as captain in a private FRMF ceremony in Rabat in late March 2026, with the public trophy presentation deferred pending Senegal's CAS appeal.

The AFCON title sits alongside the 2022 World Cup fourth place as the defining markers of Hakimi's international career. He has captained Morocco since the 2024 Paris Olympics (where Morocco reached the bronze-medal match) and has now led the squad through 28 matches as captain across senior international, Olympic and friendly fixtures.

PSG entered the 2024-25 Champions League under Luis Enrique with a rebuilt squad after Kylian Mbappé's departure to Real Madrid. Hakimi was the most experienced senior international in the squad and held the right-back position from the group stage through the knockout rounds. Across the tournament he registered five assists and one goal — the goal a clinching strike in the round-of-16 second leg.

The final delivered PSG's first UEFA Champions League trophy and Hakimi's second. The result placed him in the small group of African players to have won the Champions League with two different clubs (Real Madrid 2017-18, PSG 2024-25), and the even smaller group of African right-backs to have done so. Yaya Touré (Manchester City spell with no UCL win) and Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea 2021 squad) sit in the wider African UCL-finalist set; Hakimi is the African defender with the most UCL minutes in the post-2018 era.

The combined club season total for 2024-25 was a domestic + European treble: Ligue 1, Coupe de France and UEFA Champions League. Hakimi played all six honours-decisive matches across the three competitions. PSG's 2024-25 trophy haul matches the club's previous record under Pochettino-Galtier, with Hakimi the only player to start in all three trophy-deciding fixtures.

Morocco won CAF Group E unbeaten in 2025 to seal qualification. They were drawn into Group C of the 2026 expanded 48-team tournament at the FIFA draw on 5 December 2025. The tournament is co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States from 11 June to 19 July 2026. Morocco's exact group-stage venues will be confirmed in the FIFA fixture release in May 2026.

Hakimi enters the tournament as the highest-profile African captain, the highest FIFA-ranked player from any African squad (PSG starting right-back, two-time UCL winner) and the leader of a Morocco squad that brings AFCON 2025 + 2022 World Cup semi-final pedigree. The new head coach Mohamed Ouahbi inherits a senior leadership group spine that runs through Hakimi, Yassine Bono in goal, Sofyan Amrabat in midfield and Brahim Díaz / Youssef En-Nesyri in attack.