In front of almost 70,000 fans in Atlanta, time was ticking down on the FIFA Club World Cup™ quarter-final showdown between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Bayern München. PSG were clinging to the narrowest of leads, but the red cards shown to Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez had breathed new life into Bayern’s hopes of forcing a dramatic equaliser. Time, however, was not on their side – the clock was ticking down mercilessly.
In the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, the German side threw bodies forward. Achraf Hakimi was cornered near the touchline, surrounded by red shirts. The obvious move would have been to run down the clock, shield the ball, play safe. But Hakimi did not do the obvious. Marked by the tireless Harry Kane, he lowered his head and burst forward, leaving Dayot Upamecano and Thomas Muller grasping at air.
There was a kind of poetry in the way he glided past them, the three already in his rear-view mirror. What followed was less artful, but just as decisive. Faced by Konrad Laimer and with Serge Gnabry closing in, he squared the ball to Ousmane Dembele, who hammered home a right-footed strike to shatter any remaining Bavarian belief. “After beating my man, I looked up to cross. I spotted Ousmane and gave it to him because I knew he would make the difference,” Hakimi explained after the match.
The versatile Moroccan has been one of the shining lights for the European champions, who now stand just two matches from parlaying continental success into global glory. Starting at right-back, Hakimi’s presence is felt across the entire attacking line in Luis Enrique’s fluid system.
While disciplined in his defensive duties, the Atlas Lion is at his most dangerous when given licence to surge forward into the spaces created by PSG’s constant rotation. Whether on the inside or hugging the touchline, he can play the role of winger, full-back, wing-back and even the furthest man forward, ghosting into the box to become the focal point of the attack.
This tactical versatility adds another layer to Enrique’s structure. “Today, Hakimi played more in his natural position,” the Spanish coach explained. “There was no time for him to drift into other areas with the opposition pressing us. When we attack, we look to occupy as many spaces as possible, and mobility is one of our biggest strengths. In that sense, Haki interprets the role perfectly.”
“The coach gives me a lot of freedom, which suits me,” Hakimi told FIFA after the match at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “Thanks to him, I’ve improved a lot. He’s helped me reach a level of play I never imagined. It’s made a big difference.”
The full-back’s attacking influence has been a hallmark of a glittering 2024-25 campaign. He scored four goals and provided eight assists in Ligue 1, registered another four goals and five assists in the UEFA Champions League and added a further strike and an assist in the Coupe de France.
The 26-year-old’s contributions have not slowed at the Club World Cup, where he found the net in the 2-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC that secured the side’s place in the play-off stage, scored one of the four against Inter Miami CF and now has an assist for that Dembele settler in the last eight. In total, he has racked up 11 goals and 15 assists since the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
Hakimi, who was also instrumental in Morocco’s historic run to the semi-finals at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, knows his way around the penalty area. “When I was a kid, I started out as a striker,” he said. “Those aren’t skills you forget. When you’re in the box, you feel it, you can taste it. And I like to enjoy that aspect.”
Long before the world recognised him as one of the finest full-backs in the game, a young Hakimi played up front in the youth team at now defunct Spanish outfit Colonia Ofigevi and even into his early days at the Real Madrid youth set-up.
In addition to contributing at both ends of the pitch, Hakimi has assumed a leadership role in a side rejuvenated by many young players. “This year we’ve gone through difficult times,” he said. “But I think the team has shown our character, standing together in tough moments. We were able to score the second and show that we want to stay in this competition, that we’re one of the contenders for the title.”
