The injury is terrible, it occurred during the warm-up of a European Cup semi-final second leg and a little over a month before a World Cup! Ilias Akhomach initially started with Rayo Vallecano for the second round against Racing Club de Strasbourg on Thursday evening at Meinau, but the Moroccan international left the end of the pre-match session in tears. He probably tore his thigh during hitting drills.
If the muscle injury is confirmed, Akhomach’s participation in the 2026 World Cup with the Atlas Lions is strongly compromised. To see if Mohamed Ouahbi, the Moroccan coach, will call up the player trained at Barça in his group of 26 (maximum). The player will therefore not be operational at the start of the course.
Morocco starts against Brazil!
The 22-year-old prodigy is having a bad year in 2026. At the start of the African Cup of Nations, the former Blaugrana was one of the favorites of Moroccan fans despite his limited playing time at Villarreal. Walid Regragui gave him little playing time, but brought him in for Brahim Diaz in overtime. Loaned to Rayo upon his return from the CAN, the dribbler did not shine with the Madrid team, in La Liga and in the Conference (one goal and one assist in 17 matches).
As a reminder, the reigning African champions (since the victory on the green carpet at the expense of Senegal given by the CAF appeal jury) will challenge Brazil at the start, on June 14 in the suburbs of New York, before crossing swords with Scotland and Haiti with the objective of reaching the round of 16 and going as far as possible, three and a half years after the historic last four. A warm-up match against Norway is currently on the preparation program.
