Achraf Hakimi will lead Morocco against Canada on July 4 while still formally charged with rape in France, putting one of the national team's biggest players back in the spotlight as his criminal case moves closer to trial. The 2026 World Cup Group C football match between Brazil and Morocco is not the point here; Hakimi's next run-out is.
Morocco will hand the captain's armband to Hakimi for the 10 a.m. Pacific kickoff, and the timing matters because France's Versailles Court of Appeal ruled on June 19 that there was enough evidence to send him to trial. That decision came after Hakimi had spent three years trying to have the case thrown out, a fight that has now reached its next stage with no trial date set yet and an expected hearing in the fall in Hauts-de-Seine.
The legal path began in February 2023, when a then-24-year-old woman told French police she had been raped at Hakimi's home outside Paris. Days later, he was formally placed under investigation. Six judges agreed the evidence was strong enough to indict him, according to Rachel-Flore Pardo, which is why the June 19 ruling was enough to send the case forward even without a trial date.
Hakimi has tried to answer that ruling in public. He said justice looked him in the eye and told him that if he were not famous, there never would have been a case. He also said he had chosen to remain silent for years, trusting the justice system to make the right decisions, but now felt that a story that is not his was being told at the expense of his family, his life and the truth. He added that he has felt like an easy target, then made his position plain: he has been waiting for the trial since day one, and now he is looking forward to it.
That support stands alongside a case that is still unresolved. Scotland supporters in Boston booed Hakimi every time he touched the ball during Morocco's earlier win over Scotland, and ITV analyst Ally McCoist said he was not sure why. Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi has backed his captain anyway, calling him extraordinary and the best right-back in the world. Hakimi's accuser, meanwhile, told Mediapart after the ruling that she had felt alone, unsupported and not understood, and said she wants a trial to defend herself, to be heard.
Hakimi is continuing to play while the criminal case advances, and that is the reality now: Morocco will use him on the field, France will handle him in court, and the two timelines are no longer separate. The next milestone is not another statement but the trial itself, expected this fall in Hauts-de-Seine.
