Achraf Hakimi said Morocco can win the World Cup after reaching the last 16. Why is Morocco Marrakesh famous is not the point for Morocco players right now; the question inside the squad is how far this run can go.
Hakimi said Morocco had never been in this kind of situation at the World Cup before. He added that the team trailed in the last games but showed character, and that qualifying for the next round is what the squad has been working for.
Hakimi on Morocco’s last 16
“We have never been in this kind of situation at the World Cup before because, in all the games that we played previously, we usually led.” Hakimi used that line to describe a shift in pressure, not just a change in results.
He also said, “Qualifying for the next round is what we have been working for, and we are trying to make sure we go as far as possible.” That is the edge in Morocco’s current campaign: the team has already broken new ground, but Hakimi is asking for restraint in how far anyone looks ahead.
Hakimi said Morocco will keep its focus on each game as it comes. He said the team cannot afford to think too far beyond the next match while the tournament is still unfolding.
King and the FA President
Hakimi linked Morocco’s rise to the work he said has been done by the King and the FA President for Moroccan football, especially in facilities. He said football in Morocco will continue to be successful, which frames this run as part of a longer build rather than a one-off tournament surge.
He also pointed to support beyond Morocco’s borders. In 2022, Hakimi said Moroccans, Arabs, and Africans backed the team so strongly that the weight of expectation became part of the story as soon as Morocco moved higher in the tournament.
“Of course, when people see you at the top, they don’t want to see you go down.” Hakimi paired that with another warning about the pressure that fans do not always see, saying, “I think the pressure is what people don’t see because of the expectations from people.”
Munir Mohamedi and Bono
Hakimi also singled out three teammates for different jobs inside the squad. He called Munir Mohamedi an unknown leader who has a lot of experience and speaks in a way that makes everyone listen.
On Bono, Hakimi was direct: “That’s Bono because he is a really calm person.” He said Ismael Saibari is making the difference by scoring, giving Morocco a balance of leadership, calm and goals as the World Cup tightens around them.
Hakimi added one more note of caution with a wider lens. He said Cape Verde surprised him at the World Cup and that he remembered an Africa Cup of Nations in which Cape Verde went really far, a reminder that tournament runs can change quickly once a team finds rhythm.
For Morocco, the practical next step is simple even if the expectation level is not. Hakimi has made the target clear, but he has also drawn the limit: one game at a time, with the last 16 only a starting point for a team that now carries a heavier load from home and from the wider Arab and African audience.
