STARS OF THE 2026 WORLD CUP | Achraf Hakimi can take Atlas Lions far again

In consistency and his achievements at club and international level, Achraf Hakimi has been one of the top three African footballers of the last decade with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané. Hakimi is the best right-back in the world.

For Morocco, apart from his immense defensive qualities, he is the source of most of their attacking impetus.

At only 27, he has turned out for some of the world’s biggest clubs since coming through the junior ranks at Real Madrid, being loaned to Borussia Dortmund and ending since 2021, via Inter Milan, at Paris St Germain, where he has racked up 11 trophies.

Those include four Ligue 1 titles, the 2024-25 Uefa Champions League (which he also won a medal for as a young squad member at Real) and 2025 Uefa Super Cup.

He was the integral player in Morocco becoming the first African World Cup semifinalists in Qatar in 2022, Olympic bronze medallists in 2024 and host Africa Cup of Nations finalists — they lost to Senegal, but have controversially been declared champions by Caf’s appeals board, which seems likely to be overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport — this year.

The 2025 African Footballer of the Year will aim to take coach Mohamed Ouahbi’s Atlas Lions far in the 2026 World Cup again, from a Group C that is completed by Brazil, Haiti and Scotland.

Age: 27
Club: Paris St Germain
Previous clubs: Real Madrid B, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Paris St-Germain
Previous World Cups: 2018 (group stage), 2022 (fourth place)
Club honours:

Real Madrid: (4) Supercopa de España 2017; Uefa Champions League 2017–18, Uefa Super Cup 2017; Fifa Club World Cup 2017.
Borussia Dortmund: DFL-Supercup 2019.
Inter Milan: Serie A 2020–21.
Paris Saint-Germain: Ligue 1: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25; Coupe de France: 2023–24, 2024–25; Trophée des Champions: 2022, 2023, 2024; Uefa Champions League 2024–25; Uefa Super Cup 2025

National honours: Olympic Bronze Medal 2024

• TimesLIVE, Sowetan, The Herald and Daily Dispatch will run a series profiling the STARS OF THE 2026 WORLD CUP every Friday until the tournament kickoff on June 11. There will be a GROUP PROFILE every Tuesday.