Morocco’s Mind Games: Is Hakimi Really Ready for Mali?
25 December 2025
The Moroccan forward, Hamza Igman, trained with the national team at the Mohammed VI Center today, Thursday, in a positive step ahead of the Atlas Lions' second group-stage game in AFCON 2025, set to take place tomorrow against Mali.
Igman took part in the session alongside the rest of the squad, having also been present in the previous training, a detail that gave the technical staff and fans reassuring signals about his physical readiness, according to Moroccan press reports.
The player had suffered an injury during the 15th round of Ligue 1 when his Lille faced Olympique de Marseille on December 5.
Hakimi's stance on the Mali match
Regarding Hakimi, the Paris Saint-Germain star, he appeared at the Rabat camp doing only a solo warm-up away from the group, even though Atlas Lions coach Walid Regragui had reassured fans during the pre-match press conference that the right-back was ready to play.
He said: "We don’t complain about injuries… I was surprised by those who talked about Naïf Aguerd’s injury; he is ready, the only absent is Romain Saiss who is injured in the opening match… And for Achraf Hakimi, he has regained full readiness, and we will see whether he starts or comes on as a substitute."
A Moroccan victory over Mali would keep the group on track, while a setback would complicate progress; the two teams meet on 26 December 2025 at 21:00.
Punchline time: If confidence were a free kick, Morocco would have banged it in twice by now. And if Igman stays fit, this montage might just become a highlight reel—with bonus slow-motion runs for your popcorn budget.
