The French kylian mbappe and his great Moroccan friend Ahraf Hakimi, will meet on Wednesday in the semifinal of the Qatar 2022 World Cup when France and Morocco will play. But unlike other times, this time they will be rivals. It won’t be like the previous time, when the French star visited his Paris Saint-Germain teammate at the Moroccan national team’s concentration hotel in central Doha.

On Wednesday, Mbappé will be marked by Hakimi in a World Cup semi-final and is probably one of the most challenging football duels in the development of the game. The French forward will thus have as main obstacle to advance on the left flank a player who esteem and admire.

“ACHRAF HAKIMI, THE BEST RIGHT THIRD IN THE WORLD” Mbappé wrote on his Twitter account in January, showing his admiration for the defender.

It will be a high altitude match. The two players could achieve historic milestones with their respective teams.

Beyond the appeal of being friends, both players are in a very high level in its performance. Forward Mbappé comes into the duel as the top scorer of the tournament with five goals in five duels, but will have to break the solidity of the outstanding talent in the defense of Morocco, which he has only received guy in your participation.

A beautiful friendship began 2021when the Moroccan player found complicity with Mbappé after arriving at PSG in July, from Inter, in a transfer that would have been equal to 60 million euros ($63 million).

The two footballers were born within weeks of each other in 1998, just months after France won their first world title. And finding himself in the French club, they hit him right away.

Besides sharing equipment, Hakimi once said that they both have the same tastes music and video games. Mbappé helped his Madrid friend learn French.

Hakimi is a devout Muslim. For this year’s Eid Mubarak celebration, both players were featured in a video released by their club in reference to the event. Hakimi led Mbappéwho has family ties to Algeria, to experience food from the Arab region.

Both usually try greetings and celebrations which they display when PSG score goals. Playing for the dominant club in French soccer gives them plenty of opportunities to show off those choreography.

“It’s easy to play with someone like him.”Hakimi said of Mbappé, adding: “When you give him the ball, you know it will make a difference”.

Also, one of the champions that was given on social media during the World Cup outcome was when Morocco stepped onto the table, beating Spain on penalties and consumed the elimination of the Selection led by Luis Enrique in the round of 16. After Hakimi closed in favor of penalties with a goal that bit her like Panenka or Loco Abreu, the Frenchman dedicated a tweet to him with his name with crown-shaped emojis showing his admiration.

Mbappé is the top scorer this World Cup, based on his braces in victories against Denmark in the group stage and Poland in the round of 16.

In Saturday’s quarter-final, Mbappé was effectively defended by England’s speedy right-back Kyle Walker. He only had one clear chance before scoring, which resulted in a high and deflected shot.

Even so, he was involved in the movement that led to France’s first goal. The second and decisive for the victory of 2-1 a corner kick down the left followed, a move in which Mbappé contributed.

The Moroccan defense looked like an impregnable wall. So far none of their European opponents – Croatia, Belgium, Spain and Portugal – have managed to score against them in four full matches, plus extra time in the Spaniards’ case.

Hakimi helped limit opponents to just 10 shots on goal combined, according to FIFA stats. Canada scored a goal, thanks to Nayef Aguerd putting it in his own net, in Morocco’s victory of 2-1.

Mbappé, throughout the match, scored 10 shots on goal alone for a French selection whose total tally is 11 goals. Of the four semi-finalists, the Frenchwoman scored the most goals.

Mbappé will continue to pursue his goal of being, alongside Pelé, the youngest player to win two World Cups in Jor on Wednesday. France can also be the first selection to revalidate his title from Brazil by Pelé himself in 1962.

Hakimi wants his Selection to be there first from Africa to play in a World Cup final. If so, they would face Argentina, whose star Lionel Messi also plays for Qatar-owned PSG.

The high level of both footballers who will likely face off on the same side of the pitch and the great relationship between them will leave a great duel between them in a match that defines the second finalist of the Qatar World Cup 2022. best of friends

With information from AP