World Cup | France – Morocco | “I will have to destroy my friend”: Mbappé – Hakimi, bromance at the challenge of the semi-finals

A year and a half that they do not leave each other. On the training grounds, on vacation, Achraf Hakimi and Kylian Mbappé have become the best friends in the world over the months. Wednesday, they will meet in the semi-finals of the World Cup in a direct face-to-face which will not lack salt. The two men will compete for a place in the final and their duel will depend a good part of the fate of their nation. “See you soon my Friend” (note: “see you soon my friend“), launched the Moroccan to launch hostilities, a message to which Mbappé responded with three hearts.

Did Mbappé feel it coming? In a video broadcast by PSG TV during the start of the season training camp in Doha, the Frenchman was already considering a France-Morocco at the World Cup. “I will have to destroy my friend“, he launched in English with a big smile on the lawn of the Education City Stadium. “I will hit it“, replied the Moroccan, also with a smile. And Mbappé to relaunch: “It breaks my heart a bit, but you know, football is football. I have to kill him.“

Chambering, social networks, language courses and Jamel

Roommates, they display their complicity on social networks or videos of the Parisian club since they found common interests. “We are two 23-year-old young men who share the same tastes, we talk about music, video games, we go to the restaurant”, deciphered Hakimi at Parisian. They are not even two months apart, Mbappé is from December 20, 1998, Hakimi from November 4, 1998.

As soon as he arrived at Camp des Loges in the summer of 2021, the former piston of Inter Milan was able to count on the world champion as a luxury guide. They usually speak to each other in Spanish, which the polyglot Bondynois masters very well and which he has worked with his friend to open up new horizons, “but he helps me improve my French”, says the native of Madrid on a daily basis. mark. Inseparable, they have even already met in Doha when Kylian Mbappé, taking advantage of a day off from the France team, joined his friend at the hotel of the Moroccan selection last week to share a good time with Jamel Debbouze , also very close to the two men.

Penguin, teapot and requirement

Their relationship is not 100% idyllic. During a Ligue 1 match, broadcaster Prime Video shows footage in the hallway of the stadium where Mbappé reproaches his partner, who missed the chance to pass him: “I swear watch the video !”.”If so, I’m sorry“, Hakimi replies.”That’s not enough sorry, you have to give me passes“, tenses the striker as demanding with his closest friends as with the others. This Wednesday, the time of the meeting of a lifetime, the two friends will meet face-to-face for the third time. But now, they know each other by heart. Who will do better? Who will best manage to put their friendship aside? The fate of the semi-final could depend on it.

With AFP