Achraf Hakimi to Stand Trial for Rape Amid World Cup Campaign
Achraf Hakimi will stand trial for rape in France, a decision that now hangs over both his career and Morocco’s World Cup campaign like a storm cloud that will not move.
French prosecutors in Nanterre, on the western edge of Paris, have confirmed that the Paris St-Germain defender will face trial over an allegation dating back to 2023. A 24-year-old woman accused Hakimi of raping her at his home in the French capital. A preliminary investigation began in March of that year; three years on, the case is heading for a courtroom.
In February 2026, an investigating judge ordered that Hakimi stand trial. French media report that the 27-year-old recently failed in an appeal to have the case thrown out. No date has yet been set, but the direction of travel is clear: this will be decided in public, under oath, not in the shadows of legal argument.
Hakimi has consistently and firmly denied the accusations. On Friday, on the eve of Morocco’s second World Cup fixture against Scotland (23:00 BST), he chose to break a long silence with a pointed message on social media.
"The justice system looked me in the eye and said, 'If you weren't famous, there would never have been a case,'" he wrote. He said he had opted to stay quiet for years, trusting the process. "I believed that maintaining my dignity, being patient, and trusting in the justice system would allow the right decisions to be made.
"Today, a story that isn't mine is being told at the expense of my family, my life, and above all, the truth. I sometimes feel like I've become an easy target.
"I've been waiting for this trial since day one. And now I'm eagerly awaiting it. Finally, I'll be able to speak."
On the other side of the case, the woman who accused him has watched the slow grind of the legal system from a very different vantage point.
Her lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, called the judge’s decision to send the case to trial a moment of “relief and hope” for her client after what she describes as more than three years of being “defamed and dragged through the mud” by Hakimi’s defence.
"Relief that she has been heard by the justice system and will have the right to a trial," Pardo said in a statement. "Hope that this trial will help other women and further weaken the wall of denial and impunity surrounding sexual violence, including in the world of men's football."
Two sharply opposed narratives. One courtroom to come.
World Cup spotlight, legal shadow
Hakimi remains central to Morocco’s ambitions on the pitch. The full-back, already on 97 caps, is set to lead his country out in the United States for their second group game, with all three of their group fixtures staged on American soil.
His status in the squad is unquestioned. He debuted for Morocco at 17 in 2016 and became a symbol of the team that ripped up history in 2022, when Morocco became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final. His surging runs, his penalties, his leadership – all of it etched into the continent’s footballing story.
At club level, his rise has been just as steep. Since joining Paris St-Germain from Inter Milan in 2021, he has collected 13 trophies, including back-to-back Champions League titles in the past two seasons. Few defenders in world football carry that kind of résumé at 27.
Yet this World Cup is not confined to one country, and the legal case could have real consequences if Morocco progress.
The tournament is split across the United States, Canada and Mexico until the quarter-finals, before settling exclusively in the US. Morocco are currently based in the US, but if knockout matches take them north to Canada or south to Mexico, Hakimi’s participation could be thrown into doubt.
Canada’s government states it can deny entry to anyone who has “committed or been convicted of a crime”. The wording is broad, and the application can be strict.
The warning signs are already there. Last week, Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey missed his country’s opener against Panama after being denied entry to Canada, one of the World Cup co-hosts. Partey, 32, has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to allegations from four different women between 2020 and 2022. He is due to stand trial next year.
Hakimi has not been convicted of any crime. He contests the allegation and says he is waiting to clear his name in court. But border decisions are made by governments, not football authorities, and they do not wait for verdicts.
For now, Morocco’s focus is Scotland, the next 90 minutes, and the captain who will lead them out in a stadium far from Paris and even further from the courtroom in Nanterre.
The question is no longer whether Achraf Hakimi will stand trial. It is how a player at the peak of his powers, and a team with genuine ambitions on the world stage, will navigate a World Cup with a legal reckoning looming just beyond the touchline.
