EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- There are great African footballers, there are African legends, there are players whose careers become reference points for entire generations. As we stand on the brink of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Achraf Hakimi is moving decisively into that final category.
The timing of this tournament could hardly be more significant for his career.
Fresh from another UEFA Champions League triumph with Paris Saint-Germain -- with the rightback returning from injury to excel in the final -- Hakimi is the captain of the most accomplished Morocco side ever assembled.
A case could be made that they're the strongest African team ever to enter a World Cup.
Despite the increasing honours call -- the history books will show that the 27-year-old was also an Africa Cup of Nations winner earlier this year, albeit in the most controversial of circumstances -- Hakimi is still regarded primarily as an elite fullback, rather than what he increasingly appears to be: one of Africa's greatest ever, regardless of position.
There's already a strong argument to be made that Hakimi has surpassed every African defender in history.
The competition is formidable; Rigobert Song was the face of Cameroonian football for almost 20 years, Lucas Radebe became a Premier League icon, Tshimen Bwanga was African Footballer of the Year, while Hakimi's compatriot Nourredine Naybet excelled as part of Deportivo La Coruna's unlikely La Liga winners.
Can any of these greats, however, hold a candle to Hakimi's resume?
He's won silverware in Spain, Germany, Italy and France, played a key role in Internazionale's Serie A-winning campaign of 2020-21, became a central figure in PSG's first Champions League triumph, finished sixth in the Ballon d'Or voting in 2025 - a record for a Moroccan - and was named African Footballer of the Year last year.
His UCL success this weekend equalled Samuel Eto'o's record of winning the competition three times - the most by an African player - even though it's worth noting that Hakimi only featured in two group-stage games when he won the competition with Real Madrid in 2018.
Against Arsenal, as had been the case when he scored against Inter last year, he was no longer a bit-part player.
Returning to action for the first time since being injured in the frantic first leg of the semifinal against Bayern Munich on April 28, Hakimi was an energetic presence going forward, tenacious in defence, and even had an attempt on goal with a freekick in the second half that brought a save from David Raya.
There were moments of rustiness as he ended his five-game absence, but he largely neutralised Bukayo Saka before the England international was withdrawn, and stepped up confidently to convert his penalty in the shootout.
Hakimi truly is a big-game player, and a difference-maker at both ends of the pitch; he proved it in last year's UCL final, and he demonstrated so again this year.
In an era where Trent Alexander-Arnold has redefined - again - what a modern fullback can be, Hakimi has recalibrated expectations once more, proving that attacking intent need not come at the expense of defensive rigour, and that a defender can progress possession and influence the attacking third without compromising the team structure.
Is he the most complete example of this role that the sport has produced in the last decade?
Certainly, the likes of Kyle Walker and Andy Robertson never had Hakimi's attacking contribution, João Cancelo never had his consistency and longevity, Dani Carvajal never had the technical completeness, while Alphonso Davies doesn't have the Moroccan's tactical range or measured calm in the big moments.
Each of these may rival Hakimi in one area or another, but taking into account all-round game, consistency of contribution, big-game impact, club career, honours across multiple leagues, UCL final performances, and transformative national-team legacy... none have his significance.
Certainly, no African defender has ever married individual quality, tactical influence, club glories and international impact to this extent.
Ahead of the final, we examined a comparison between Hakimi and Eto'o, and while the Cameroon legend still holds the edge here, an assessment of Hakimi among North African players is an intriguing debate.
Traditionally, the conversation begins with Mohamed Salah, and surely, Salah's achievements at Liverpool, his Premier League records and his sheer numbers make him the benchmark.
However, Hakimi - six years younger than Salah - is making an increasingly compelling case, even if defenders may always be disadvantaged when comparisons are made with attacking players.
Of course, Salah's numbers and individual honours remain superior, but stats alone do not legacies make. Indeed, when it comes to performing on the biggest stages, the picture is less clear-cut.
While Salah has often been criticised - increasingly - for too often being a flat-track bully and letting the big occasions pass him by, Hakimi already reported present for one of the defining international achievements in football history.
While Salah has failed in two AFCON finals, and (admittedly, due to injury), made no impact at the 2018 World Cup, Hakimi was influential in Morocco's run to the 2022 World Cup semis, in one of the greatest tournament stories ever seen as the Atlas Lions became the first African and/or Arab nation to reach the final four.
When Morocco needed a leader, a talisman, Hakimi stepped up. He defended astutely, gave Morocco a threat from wide, took responsibility in penalty shootouts - scoring the decisive spotkick against Spain - and set the tone for the Lions' emotionally responsible and tactically astute tournament campaign.
Even with this run, positional bias may ensure that football culture naturally celebrates the scorers, even if few can match the totality of Hakimi's career across four major footballing institutions.
Salah remains North Africa's greatest player, but if Hakimi can lead Morocco on another deep World Cup run, proving he can succeed where Salah could not, in the biggest fixtures, the gap between them may become surprisingly narrow.
That's why the 2026 World Cup comes at such an intriguing moment in Hakimi's career. The strength of the team around him puts the fullback in a unique position - compared to all the great African players to have gone before him - when it comes to tackling the biggest competition in the sport.
Quite simply, no African player has ever entered a World Cup with credentials quite like this Morocco team.
In 2022, they proved they can compete with the elite nations. Since then, they've remained prominent in the FIFA World Rankings, and arrive at this tournament in eighth position in the world.
They are a genuine top 10 nation in the world game, and in several past/recent tournaments, such a ranking would have ensured they were seeded for the group stage.
This is unprecedented territory for African football; typically, the continent's teams have targeted the knockouts, but on the back of the Qatar success and a deep run in this year's AFCON, with the strength of their squad, and with the expanded group stage making for 'softer' first round opponents, Morocco can realistically have expectations to genuinely compete.
In 2022, the Atlas Lions were romantic underdogs. Now, the quarterfinals should be their natural benchmark, rather than their ceiling. If the North Africans reach the Last Eight or beyond, then the question of Hakimi's ranking in Africa's pantheon would again require a revision.
If they repeat their semifinal feat - or even surpass it - then the conversation changes entirely.
History remembers pioneers, and while Eto'o has won trebles, Didier Drogba made Wembley his own, and Salah shattered goalscoring records, none came close to genuinely challenging for the sport's ultimate prize.