Achraf Hakimi boost as Morocco seek end to AFCON title drought

JOHANNESBURG: A social media picture of Achraf Hakimi in Rabat this week gladdened every Moroccan football supporter as the kingdom prepares to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) from Sunday.

The 27-year-old Paris Saint-Germain star was wearing sun glasses, a red, white and black sweater, baggy blue jeans and dark suede sneakers.

What he was not wearing was far more significant, though. Gone was the surgical boot on his left foot when receiving the African player of the year award in Morocco last month.  

Hakimi, included in the 2025 FIFA Best XI this week, was the victim of a reckless tackle by Luis Diaz during a UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich in Paris during November.

While Diaz was red-carded, Hakimi left the field with a badly sprained left ankle, casting immediate doubts on whether he would be available for the AFCON.

As he moved with difficulty to collect his award during the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ceremony in Rabat, the seriousness of the injury was evident.

Considered one of the best right-backs in the world, he is a key figure in Moroccan plans to end a five-decade wait and lift the AFCON trophy a second time.

But there is uncertainty as to when he can don the red and green of the Atlas Lions, a team ranked No. 1 in Africa since defying the odds and reaching the 2022 World Cup semi-finals in Qatar.

Hakimi reportedly arrived in Morocco with a doctor and physiotherapist from PSG and is continuing his rehabilitation. There is hope that he can start training later this week.

There is endless speculation about a possible return date for a star who had stints with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan before moving to Paris in 2021.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui has said he does not want to take any risks with his captain, which could mean missing the three-match group stage.

The hosts face the Comoros in the opening match on Sunday, then Mali on December 26 and Zambia three days later. All the matches will be at the 68,000-seat Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

Greatest threat

Mali are likely to pose the greatest threat, but it is difficult to imagine Morocco not finishing among the top two teams and automatically qualifying for the knockout phase.

The round of 16 is set for four days from January 3 and that may be when Morocco hope Madrid-born Hakimi will be available.

“He is our leader, our captain,” said Regragui, the first coach of an African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

Morocco are an undisputed African powerhouse, but their AFCON record since winning the then eight-team tournament in Ethiopia in 1976 is unimpressive.

Since that triumph in Addis Ababa, they have reached only one final, losing 2-1 to 2024 hosts Tunisia with Regragui the right-back.

They arrived in the Ivory Coast last year as title favourites on the back of their Qatar showing, but fell to South Africa in a last-16 clash.

Morocco are currently in top form, though, entering the AFCON having won a world record 18 consecutive competitive and friendly matches.

They overtook previous record holders Spain in October by defeating Congo Brazzaville in a 2026 World Cup qualifier and since then beat Mozambique and Uganda in AFCON warm-up matches.

Add the fact that Moroccan supporters are among the most passionate and partisan in the continent and it is easy to understand why the Atlas Lions are again the title favourites.

But being hosts is no guarantee of success in the premier African football tournament, which kicked off in 1957 with just three teams and is now a 24-nation spectacle with a worldwide TV audience.

From 2000 there have been 13 AFCON tournaments and only three hosts – Tunisia, Egypt in 2006 and Ivory Coast last year – have claimed the title.

The chances of Morocco becoming a fourth successful host this century will be greatly enhanced if Hakimi is passed fit and leads the Atlas Lions into battle.