AFCON 2025: Achraf Hakimi backs Morocco to seize their moment

Achraf Hakimi has sent a powerful message of ambition before Morocco’s opening game against Comoros at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.

The tournament runs in Morocco from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026, with the Atlas Lions leading Group A alongside Comoros, Mali and Zambia and starting their campaign at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium tonight.

In the pre-match press conference, Hakimi made it clear that the team has no excuses with the competition being played at home in top conditions. He stressed that everything now depends on the players’ ability to control their emotions and manage the fine details of every game, highlighting how much work the squad has done collectively on this mental side.

“We have no excuses. The Africa Cup of Nations is being held on our soil, in conditions that may even be better than in Europe,” he said 

“Everything depends on us, on our ability to control our emotions and manage the details of each match. We have worked a lot on this aspect, and we have talked at length among ourselves.

“We will show in every match that we are ready to win this tournament, and God willing, this title will stay at home,”