Rabat – Moroccan international player, Achraf Hakimi, has finally expressed his happiness at the Atlas Lions triumphing in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
During his guest appearance alongside Kylian Mbappe and Tchouameni on the podcast “The Bridge,” the PSG right-back said: “We are very happy. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time… even if the victory came this way… we won.”
As captain for Morocco’s national team that led the squad to the 2025 Africa Cup of nations title, Hakimi explained on the episode his personal decision to represent Morocco internationally instead of Spain.
Morocco’s AFCON triumph came after the African Football Confederation Appeal Board issued a ruling that effectively stripped Senegal of the title and awarded it to Morocco. In its ruling, the CAF board determined Senegal’s to walk off the pitch amounted to a forfeit, which is typically punished by a 3-0 defeat for the forfeiting team.
In the same podcast episode, Mbappe discussed the racist insults he endured after missing the penalty against Switzerland in the 2021 European Championship.
As he confessed, the Real Madrid forward felt that he was “walking like a dead man” as he started getting monkey insults.
The incident showed that racism remains a deep-seated issue in football. Just this week, Spanish football made controversial headlines and elicited a wave of backlash after some Spanish fans booed the Egyptian national anthem and intoned anti-Muslim chants during Spain’s friendly game against Egypt.