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A photo of two leading soccer stars hugging at the World Cup has gone viral.
French player Kylian Mbappe and Morrocan player Achraf Hakimi play alongside each other for top team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Besides being teammates they are close friends.
Both were picked by their countries to play for their respective national sides at the World Cup in Qatar.
Morocco went into the competition as outsiders (France won in 2018). However, despite the odds, Morocco made it through to the semi-final stage. They became the first African nation to ever reach this stage and had the entire continent cheering them on.
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As fate would have it, Morocco faced France in the semi-final on Wednesday night, pitching teammates and best buddies Mbappe and Hakimi against one another.
To Morocco’s heartbreak and dismay, France won 2-0.
Hakimi, like most of the other Moroccan players, sunk to the pitch as the final whistle blew, inconsolable at the loss.
Mbappe (in dark blue shirt) went to his friend and gave him a hand to help him back to his feet. He also hugged him and offered words of comfort. He later swapped his shirt with him (a soccer tradition at the end of the match).
Afterward, Mbappe posted a photo of him comforting his friend.
“Don’t be sad bro, everybody is proud of what you did, you made history. ❤️
@AchrafHakimi”
Don’t be sad bro, everybody is proud of what you did, you made history. ❤️ @AchrafHakimi pic.twitter.com/hvjQvQ84c6
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) December 14, 2022
Related: This real life Superman just stormed the Qatar World Cup field with a rainbow flag
The tweet has had over 1million likes and over 100,000 retweets.
Many said the photo and tweet were typical of the warm friendship between the two great friends. Many replies pointed to their “bromance”.
— SportsGrid (@SportsGrid) December 14, 2022
Bromance ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/UjBwo1G0Zp
— 🧬 I D R I S እድሪስ 🧬 (@IOMEKO) December 14, 2022
What’s going on here?
However, others wanted to comment on something else that caught their attention.
Why you bricked up 😭
— َ (@BolWrld) December 14, 2022
Poor guy misunderstood the idea of a semi final https://t.co/d9HBGAYZ7E
— Stephen Tries (@StephenTries) December 15, 2022
anyone gonna address the boner in the room?
— Lev (@leonardo_lev) December 15, 2022
Mbappe is blessed. He’s a complete player😍 https://t.co/WdGkwBMji1
— EFUA 🇬🇭❤ (@Efua_ampofoa) December 15, 2022
why you ARENT looking there ? pic.twitter.com/vUcArqhQMD
— a_non (@a_aonoo) December 14, 2022
Man’s having a boner 💀
Bro don’t forget you’re in Qatar— Aditya (@Adityaislit) December 15, 2022
On Instagram, Hakimi was among those to respond to the posting. He replied to Bappe, “Love u bro ❤️”
France will play Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday.
Related: Queer comic threatens to shred $12,000 if David Beckham doesn’t ditch Qatar deal
GlobeTrotter
Geez, sometimes a hug is JUST a hug! Wishful thinking is one thing, but this borders on desperation.
Kangol2
Mbappé!!!!!!!!!!
SDR94103
I can see a little boner!
nm4047
maybe you need to put your pants back on.
RyanMBecker
The article mentioned that they swapped shirts but when I saw that photo, my genuine first reaction was, “Did they also swap shorts?” The blue guy’s shorts are so tight and tiny that I seriously thought that they were underwear. I really thought that the blue guy had just taken off his shorts to swap. I mean, just compare his teeny white shorts to the long green granny bloomers on his friend!
Wow, I didn’t realize that some Europeans are still wearing 1980s style sports gear. Good for them because the post-1990s baggy shorts are an abomination. In fact, they were a result of hiphop’s homophobia. I wonder if the French also wear tighty-whities and bikini briefs. I may be Gen Z/Millennial but tighty-whities are still my preferred underwear, with jocks and boxer-briefs cumming in second.
Brian
This is creepy. There are already too many straight men who think that any kind of sensitivity, caring, or touch is automatically gay. That paranoia drives a lot of harassment and discrimination against gay or gay-seeming men. Here you’re advancing the same sort of idea. Just let them be.
GayEGO
Bro hugs are acceptable these days and they do not mean they are gay.