Morocco Coach Regragui Reveals Mbappé-Hakimi Bond Ahead of World Cup Rematch

"We are dealing with players who are competitors, who play at the highest level, who don’t give each other any gifts and who are friends in life. And they’re even more than friends, maybe like brothers today," says Walid Regragui, a guest on Canal Football Club about the two PSG teammates Mbappé and Hakimi, who faced each other in the 2022 World Cup semi-finals.

To read:

"I think for Achraf we didn’t have to put too much pressure on him (editor’s note: asking him how he was going to take on Mbappé). He knows him better than I do already. That’s what I was telling him. And the first time I told him he was going to play against his buddy, he said to me: ’there are no buddies in the match’," he continues, before concluding: "He reacted like a champion and in the match he really wanted to win." After the match won with difficulty by France (0-2), Kylian went to comfort his friend.

Back from Qatar, the Moroccan right-back and his PSG teammate have had a few days of rest. The two inseparable friends went to the United States, before changing course. Hakimi and Kylian are currently in Marrakech. They could resume competition with the Parisian club on January 11 against Angers or January 15 against Rennes.