Paris Saint-Germain teammates Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi are close friends, and they will go head-to-head in today's opening World Cup quarter-final. But they are not the only ones with a personal connection to the match. Six members of Morocco's squad are preparing to face the country where they were born.
Morocco's 26-man squad includes six players born in France: Redouane Halhal, Gessime Yassine, Samir El Mourabet, Neil El Aynaoui, Issa Diop and Ayyoub Bouaddi. Although all six were born in France, their family roots are in Morocco. As children of immigrant families, they were eligible to represent both France by birth and Morocco through their heritage.
This is not the first time Morocco have faced a nation where some of their own players were born. In the Round of 32, they took on the Netherlands with three Dutch-born players in their squad. Against France, that number has doubled.
Among the six, Ayyoub Bouaddi has attracted the most attention. The 18-year-old midfielder was part of France's Under-21 squad earlier this year and even captained the team. However, ahead of the World Cup, he chose to represent Morocco at senior international level.
Morocco have spent several years actively recruiting talented dual-nationality players eligible to represent the country. Before this tournament, France-born players such as Sofiane Boufal, Romain Saiss, Marouane Chamakh, Mehdi Benatia and Mustapha Hadji all opted to wear the Moroccan jersey.
