'He dazzles': Rangers star shines on international duty, he 'showed superiority' over £17m World Cup hero
03/20/2025 02:00 AM
With his dream of a first senior international appearance now only days away from being fulfilled, well, its fair to say the Rangers ace has made a pretty good first impression in the camp.
March is turning into a month of firsts at Rangers.
A first Scotland Under-21 call-up for Bailey Rice, manager Scot Gemmill keen to take a look at the Ibrox starlet first hand. Nico Raskin’s superb form could be rewarded by a Belgium debut against Ukraine on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Hamza Igamane spelled out the three ambitions he wanted to achieve in 2025 at the start of the New Year.
Continue to develop, silence any lingering doubters, and make the step up from the Under-23s to Morocco’s first-team. Called up by Walid Regragui ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Niger and Tanzania, Hamza Igamane may soon find himself one third of the way towards completing his annual bucket list already.
Hamza Igamane ‘dazzles’ as Rangers striker impresses in Morocco
Having taken Morocco to the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup – the first ever African nation to reach the last four – Regragui has pinpointed the Rangers striker as someone capable of leading the next generation for the Atlas Lions.
And, as he took to the training pitch as a senior international for the first time this week, well, ‘dazzled’ is the word Moroccan publication Win Win used to Igamane’s performance.
The former AS Far Rabat frontman got the better of Youssef En-Nesyri’s Fenerbahce in the last-16 of the Europa League. A source reportedly closely connected to Regragui, meanwhile, tells Win Win that Igamane ‘outperformed’ his far more senior teammate in training too.
“[Coach Regragui] was very impressed with the performance of striker Hamza Igamane in the evening training session of the Moroccan national team at the Mohammed VI Football Center,” they write.
“He outperformed all the attacking players, including Fenerbahce striker Youssef En-Nesyri.”
Igamane set to make his debut for the World Cup semi-finalists
A £17 million signing from La Liga outfit Sevilla last summer, En-Nesyri may have been kept on a tight leash by John Souttar and Leon Balogun over 210 minutes but he has an impressive 26 goals for Fenerbahce so far.
The spring-heeled centre-forward has also delivered Morocco some of their most iconic moments on the international stage. That soaring header against Spain at the 2018 World Cup. A similarly salmon-like effort against Portugal four years later in Qatar.
Yet, a man with zero caps and zero goals may having a striker with 78 caps and 23 goals glancing nervously over his shoulder with Niger to come on Friday.
"Hamza Igamane arrived at the Mohammed VI Football Center in high spirits, and showed superiority over En-Nesyri,” the source reveals. “The coach may give him a chance to appear against Niger.
“The Rangers player appeared superior and showed a clear desire in training, as he came to the Moroccan national team to stay with it for a long time. We will see what he will show on the field.”
The 22-year-old certainly jetted out to North Africa in high spirits.
Hamza Igamane scored a ‘phenomenal’ late winner as Rangers beat Celtic on Sunday. Thus, ending the Gers’ five year wait for a win at Parkhead, taking his tally to 14 for the season, ending a two-month goal drought, and securing his place in Ibrox folklore.
No matter what he goes onto achieve from here, Igamane might have few happier fortnights in football.
