"French Team Without Any French Players"... Former Spanish Prime Minister Slammed for Racist Remarks

Controversy Over Remarks Targeting Players of Immigrant Backgrounds

As France and Spain prepare to face off in the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup, the former Prime Minister of Spain has sparked controversy with racist remarks directed at the French team.

In the quarterfinals of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, France and Morocco faced off, with Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi (number 2, PSG) and French forward Kylian Mbappe (number 10) competing for the ball. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On July 12, French outlet RMC Sport and other foreign media reported that Mariano Rajoy, former Prime Minister of Spain, made disparaging comments about the French national team in a column contributed to the local media outlet El Debate. Rajoy served as Spain's Prime Minister from December 2011 to May 2018.

In the column, Rajoy congratulated Spain on reaching the semifinals but also made remarks about their opponents, the French national team. He noted, "We must remember that France has won the World Cup twice and were the runners-up in the last tournament," and added, "They have won every match in this World Cup and are currently ranked No. 1 by FIFA." However, Rajoy went on to say, "The quality of their squad is also very high," but added, "They have achieved all this without any French people."

Rajoy's comments have been interpreted as a reference to the large number of players on the French national team who are of diverse racial backgrounds or come from immigrant families. As a result, there has been a flood of criticism that his remarks were racist in nature. The controversy has deepened because Rajoy's comments came just a week after a previous incident involving racist remarks directed at French team captain Kylian Mbappe.

Earlier, Celeste Amarilla, a senator from Paraguay in South America, who faced France in the round of 16, made a racist remark about Mbappe, calling him "a descendant of Cameroonians from the colonial era who desperately pretends to be French," which prompted a strong protest from the French side. Mbappe is the son of a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother, making him a descendant of immigrants.

Despite the strong backlash and criticism, Amarilla and her camp maintained that her remarks were "freedom of expression" and refused to apologize. However, even the Paraguayan Senate, to which she belongs, passed a resolution opposing her comments.

In addition, former Paraguayan football star goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert also sparked controversy by saying, "In 1998, we played against France, but now Paraguay is facing an African team," further fueling accusations of racism.

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated semifinal clash between the European football powerhouse France and Spain is scheduled to take place at 4 a.m. KST on July 15 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, United States.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.