Maelle Lakrar is a French professional footballer who plays as a defender for Division 1 Feminine club Montpellier and the France national team.
Maelle Lakrar joined the Olympique de Marseille team in 2015 to play in the French second division. She won the 2015-2016 second-division championship and made her first-division debut in the 2016-2017 season. Maelle Lakrar has ten selections with the France U16 team in 2016, and twelve selections with the France U17 team between 2016 and 2017 (with five goals scored), including three matches and one goal in phase 2017 European U17 Championship Final.
She also has 21 caps and six goals for the France U19 team since 2017, including five games in the final phase of the 2019 European U19 Championship won by Les Bleuettes. Maelle Lakrar scored the winning goal against Germany in the final. She also has 10 caps and one goal for the France U20 team since 2017, taking part in the 2018 U20 World Cup held in France, where Les Bleuettes won the bronze medals.
At the end of the 2017-2018 season synonymous with relegation for Olympique de Marseille, she joined Montpellier. She is gradually establishing herself as a starter together with Oceane Deslandes and Luna Gevitz in particular. In her maiden 2018/2019 season with the team, Montpellier won the bronze medals at the French Division 1 Feminine, just behind the hegemons Olympique Lyon and PSG.
In 2019/2020, Olympique de Marseille finished 4th in the French Division 1 Feminine and she had 7 appearances, while in the next seasons, she played regularly in the starting squad.
Maelle Lakrar was selected for the first time in the senior France team in February 2023, and started in two matches with the team, against Uruguay and Norway. She was selected for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and scored her first two goals in blue during a preparation match in Ireland on July 6, 2023, for the 3-0 victory.