Achraf Hakimi explains why he turned down Spain for Morocco

Hakimi revealed that he had been approached several times by the Spanish federation while playing for Real Madrid. Despite attending a training camp to test the environment, the player never felt comfortable with the Spanish national team. "Spain called me several times. I went there, I tried, and I didn’t feel comfortable," he explained. His club at the time had nevertheless left him free to follow his instinct in determining his international future.

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Beyond the purely sporting criteria, it was the weight of identity and education that tipped the scales in favor of Morocco. For Hakimi, joining the Atlas Lions was an obvious choice for his personal fulfillment and that of his loved ones. "I told myself that the most comfortable choice for my career and for my parents was to choose Morocco," he specified. This decision was made even before his integration into the Madrid first team, underscoring its emotional nature.

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Present during this exchange, Kylian Mbappé supported this vision, believing that national allegiance should be based on identity rather than a simple career plan. According to the French captain, joining a national team is not comparable to a club commitment: "It’s not like a club where it’s a sports project." For Hakimi, the essential thing was to choose the place where he felt most in tune with himself, a feeling he never found with Spain.