Omar El Hilali continues his journey with RCD Espanyol Barcelona. The Atlas Lions right-back came through the Catalan club’s youth academy and reserve team before joining the first team in 2023. Under contract until 2027, with an option for an additional year, the Moroccan international shared several thoughts with Mundo Deportivo about his future at the club: “The club has the option to activate it (...) we will reach an agreement.”
The Atlas Lion also spoke about his change of role within the squad, which has taken him “closer to the opposition’s penalty area,” as well as his life at a club he has known for many years.
Asked about Morocco, particularly a potential call-up from Mohamed Ouahbi for the next international break at the end of September, when the sixth-ranked team in the world will face Gabon in Rabat on the 25th before taking on Lesotho in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on the 29th, El Hilali said he would welcome another call-up. He has been called up to the senior national team only once, by Walid Regragui in September 2025. “For a footballer, playing for your country is ideally one of the greatest things there is. I would be delighted,” he said.
The player stressed the importance of his performances at club level: “If you perform well at your club, you always have the possibility of being selected (...). When the time comes, it comes. If I am called up, I will be very happy, and if not, I will keep working so that I can join them one day.”
Speaking about his absence from AFCON 2025 and the 2026 World Cup, the Moroccan recalled a previous season at Espanyol Barcelona when he did not feel “comfortable”: “A footballer always knows when he can do better or when things are going well,” he said. “Last year, there were matches when I didn’t feel as comfortable as I do this year. It’s a shame because you have the opportunity to join the national team and, in the end, you don’t go. Whether you like it or not, you ask yourself: ‘What could I have done to be selected?’”
Read also : Spain’s big 2030 final pitch has a leaking problem
Despite those questions, he said, “You simply forget everything. In football, there is always a second and a third chance, and besides, I am still very young. I hope to take part in an Africa Cup of Nations and a World Cup one day. It will depend on my performances at club level. I am 100% focused.”
He also reflected on the AFCON 2025 final, which was marked by an interruption after Senegalese players left the pitch at the Moulay-Abdellah Complex on January 18 during the match, on the orders of former coach Pape Thiaw: “In any football match, as soon as an opposing player leaves the pitch, victory is automatically awarded to the other team.”
