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Hakimi warns Mbappé before France-Morocco clash: "He's not my mate on the pitch"

Two days before the 2026 World Cup quarter-final between France and Morocco at Gillette Stadium in Boston, Achraf Hakimi has set aside his friendship with Kylian Mbappé in unequivocal terms.

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Hakimi warns Mbappé before France-Morocco clash: "He's not my mate on the pitch"
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Achraf Hakimi settled the friendship question squarely ahead of the 2026 World Cup quarter-final between France and Morocco, Thursday evening at Gillette Stadium in Boston. In response to a post from a Moroccan comedian evoking his complicity with Kylian Mbappé, the PSG right-back replied bluntly: “He’s not my mate on the pitch”.

The two captains know each other well off the pitch, but Hakimi clearly intends to reproduce the mindset that characterized the 2022 World Cup semi-final in Qatar, where the two nations had already met at this stage of the competition. France won 2-1 that evening, thanks to goals from Theo Hernandez in the 5th minute and Randal Kolo Muani in the 79th.

Mbappé, for his part, approached these reunions with a smile when discussing his friend after France’s victory over Paraguay (1-0) Friday evening. “Achraf Hakimi? I think he’s already written to me,” he quipped with a laugh. The Real Madrid striker then framed the stakes: “We’re going to focus, we know we’re going to play a very good team. We’re very happy to play against them and we’re going to do everything to continue our path.”

Hakimi’s reply, dry and direct, sets the tone for a fixture that goes far beyond a simple match between club teammates. For Morocco, which reached the last four in 2022 before losing to France, this quarter-final represents another opportunity to overturn the hierarchy established four years ago.

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