Caught between two worlds at the 2026 World Cup » Super League revelation doesn't know who to support, Holland or Morocco: “I couldn't choose”

For Yassine Zakir, 29, one of the standout players this season at relegated Metaloglobus, the 2026 World Championship is more than a tournament watched in front of the TV. It is a meeting point between two worlds that formed him: Holland, the place where he was born and raised, and Morocco, the country where his grandparents come from, and to which he feels extremely attached.

• Divided into Group F, the Netherlands make their WC 2026 debut tomorrow, from 23:00 in the company of Japan. Sweden and Tunisia complete the group,

• Morocco make their World Cup debut tonight, from 01:00in the first shock of the final tournament on North American soil, against Brazil. Group C also includes Scotland and Haiti.

• GSP launched the “World Soccer, Super League Hearts” project, a set of articles that brings forward foreign players who have played in the Super League, talking with emotion and passion about each motherland.

• The other episodes can be read here.

This double belonging was built naturally, since childhood, in a multicultural neighborhood in the Netherlands, where football was played daily, on the street or in the gym, without distinction. There he learned to play instinctively, to look for the ball and to duel, in an environment that emphasizes freedom and creativity, specific traits of the Batavian school, which he graduated from in Groningen, one of the most important academies in the “Land of Tulips”.

When it comes to the 2026 World Cup, Zakir speaks with emotion. He can't choose between Holland and Morocco. He couldn't decide who to play for, but he would be proud to pull on the shirt of any of them.

Yassine Zakir: “Football in Romania is more intense, more aggressive than that in the Netherlands”

“The Netherlands is a much smaller country than Romania, the roads are better there (laughs…). From a football point of view, in Romania it is more intense, more aggressive. In the Netherlands, more football is played, for this reason I can make a difference in the Superliga. I was born and raised in the Netherlands.

My grandparents are from Moroccoa country I have visited several times. My childhood was very beautiful. I grew up with other children from several areas of the world, in a neighborhood where a lot of football was played on the street, but also in the gym, futsal. That's where I was most of the time, outside, playing soccer.

That's where it all started for me. I grew up in Groningen, a very big academy in the Netherlands. You train a lot with the ball, you start to develop quickly, Holland being one of the biggest soccer countries in the world“, Zakir began his speech, telling what it was like to grow up in the Netherlands, but also the differences compared to Romania.

The boss and the president convinced me to come here. I like the country, I like Bucharest, these were the reasons behind the transfer.

– Yassine Zakir

11 offensive contributionshad Zakir in the recently concluded season: 8 goals and 2 assists in the Super League, one goal in the Romanian Cup.

What expectations does he have from the World Cup on North American soil

“I have very high expectations for the Netherlands. I am also a supporter of Morocco, who finished fourth in the last World Cup. I have high expectations from both, they play beautiful football and they have important players at big clubs,” he said.

At the last World Championship, the one in Qatar, the Netherlands was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Argentina, after penalty kicks, at the end of a match with dramatic accents, while Morocco reached the semi-finals, a first for an African team!

3the Netherlands lost World Cup finals: 1974 (with Germany), 1978 (Argentina) and 2010 (Spain).

7World Cup final tournaments Morocco has had: 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022 and next 2026. Best performance: Qatar 2022 minor final.

Later, we asked him what choice he would make if he received a call from both federations at the same time:

– If you had the option to represent one of the two national teams, and both would have called you, which one would you choose?
– That is a very good question. I couldn't choose.

– But it would be a dream for you to play for any of them.
– Of course. It would be a dream to play for the Netherlands, but Morocco also impresses me. They have developed enormously, they have also had a good run at the Africa Cup of Nations and they are a country you are proud to play for.

Netherlands schedule in Group F:

• June 14, 23:00 » Netherlands – Japan – AT&T Stadium, Arlington

• June 20, 20:00 » Netherlands – Sweden – NRG Stadium, Houston

• June 25, 02:00 » Tunisia – Netherlands – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City

Morocco's schedule in Group C:

• June 14, 01:00 » Brazil – Morocco – New York New Jersey Stadium, East Rutherford

• June 20, 01:00 » Scotland – Morocco – Boston Stadium, Massachusetts

• June 25, 01:00 » Morocco – Haiti – Atlanta Stadium, Georgia