{"id":23654,"date":"2022-12-15T11:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T11:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel"},"modified":"2022-12-15T11:33:57","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T11:33:57","slug":"psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel","title":{"rendered":"PSG stars Mbappe and Hakimi set for epic World Cup \u2018duel\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>They stand shoulder to shoulder when facing the best teams in Europe \u2013 playing week in, week out as teammates in the devastating lineup of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).<\/p>\n

They hang out off the pitch. And they\u2019ve even gone on holiday together. But all that will change when the whistle blows in Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

For at least 90 minutes, France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe and Morocco\u2019s Achraf Hakimi will be arch-foes, hell-bent on beating the other for a place in the World Cup final.<\/p>\n

During a PSG trip earlier this year to Qatar, the site of the 2022 World Cup, they raised the prospect of facing each other. \u201cI have to destroy my friend,\u201d Mbappe joked in a short video message.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will break my heart a little bit, but you know, that is football. I have to kill him. \u201d<\/p>\n

Hakimi\u2019s response? \u201cI\u2019m going to smash him,\u201d the 24-year-old Moroccan wing-back said with a smile. It\u2019s a face-off being relished by football fans all around the world.<\/p>\n

Both men are fast. Really fast. Mbappe was clocked reaching 35.6km\/h (22.1mph) during this season\u2019s UEFA Champions League. Hakimi also hit 35km\/h. It\u2019s not just about speed, though.<\/p>\n

According to the number crunchers, Hakimi completes more passes (an average of 91 in a 90-minute game, compared with Mbappe\u2019s 84) and wins more challenges (53 per 90 for Hakimi, just 32 for Mbappe).<\/p>\n

Defensively, Hakimi\u2019s record is stellar. No one has yet been able to score against Morocco in this tournament: the only goal they have conceded was an own goal.<\/p>\n

But Hakimi will not just be tasked with stopping France\u2019s 23-year-old superstar Mbappe. He has attacking responsibilities of his own, with Morocco looking to strike on the counter in their games at the World Cup so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great duel between the two,\u201d Morocco head coach Walid Regragui told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re both champions, world-class players and they\u2019re both going to be going at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be focusing on what we can do to cause problems for France .
\n. we\u2019re going to have to counter the threat of Kylian. But I have no doubt that Hakimi will be on top form to get the better of his friend. \u201d<\/p>\n

The friendship is clear: they celebrate goals with the same penguin dance routine, they went on holiday to Spain together, and they\u2019ve reportedly even been spotted hanging out in Qatar together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to have him by my side. He is one of the best players in the world, but above all, he is my friend. I love him,\u201d Hakimi told Telefoot.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. They stand shoulder to shoulder when facing the best teams in Europe \u2013 playing week in, week out as teammates in the devastating lineup of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). They hang out off the pitch. And they\u2019ve even gone on holiday together. But all that will change when the whistle blows in Al […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,245,241,514],"class_list":["post-23654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nPSG stars Mbappe and Hakimi set for epic World Cup \u2018duel\u2019 - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"They stand shoulder to shoulder when facing the best teams in Europe \u2013 playing week in, week out as teammates in the dev ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PSG stars Mbappe and Hakimi set for epic World Cup \u2018duel\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"They stand shoulder to shoulder when facing the best teams in Europe \u2013 playing week in, week out as teammates in the dev ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-15T11:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-15T11:33:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1671089657.08.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"PSG stars Mbappe and Hakimi set for epic World Cup \u2018duel\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-15T11:00:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-15T11:33:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1671089657.08.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Mauritius\",\"World Cup\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/psg-stars-mbappe-and-hakimi-set-for-epic-world-cup-duel\",\"name\":\"PSG stars Mbappe and Hakimi set for epic World Cup \u2018duel\u2019 - 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