Rajoy's comment about France sparks political storm ahead of World Cup semifinal
Former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy found himself at the center of a political and media controversy after writing, while commenting on the French national football team, that the squad had players "of a very high level" but "no Frenchmen". The sentence, published in his opinion column in the Spanish newspaper El Debate, prompted condemnation from members of the French government, leading politicians in France and representatives of the Spanish executive. Critics said that Rajoy was equating the players' origins with their nationality and that such wording belonged to a racist and xenophobic pattern used to deny French citizens of migrant or overseas origin their belonging to the country they represent. The controversy erupted only two days before the World Cup semifinal between Spain and France, scheduled for July 14, 2026, in Dallas, giving the sporting event an additional political and social dimension.
The sentence that overshadowed the sporting analysis
Rajoy published the controversial comment late on July 10 in a column titled "Hoy llegó el desquite", written after Spain's victory over Belgium in the quarterfinals. In most of the text, he analyzed Spain's path to the final stages of the tournament, recalled France's results and concluded that Didier Deschamps's team would be an exceptionally difficult opponent. He described France as a two-time world champion, a finalist at the previous tournament and a national team with a top-class squad, and then added that it was a lineup "without Frenchmen". The former prime minister did not explain which players he considered non-French, nor did he state the criterion by which their citizenship or national identity should be questioned. It was precisely this unsupported claim, placed alongside praise for the team's quality, that became the focus of the debate.
In the same column, Rajoy also linked the victory over Belgium to domestic politics. He wrote that he liked neither "devils" nor "reds", simultaneously alluding to the Belgian national team's nickname, the Red Devils, and to the Spanish left. This combination of sporting commentary, ideological messages and the remark about the French players accelerated the spread of the text beyond the sports section. French and Spanish media reported it as a political statement by a former head of government rather than as an incidental football joke. Rajoy, who governed Spain from 2011 to 2018 and was the long-serving leader of the conservative People's Party, thus returned to the center of public debate even though he has held no executive office for years.
French government: the national team players are French
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described Rajoy's message as "absolutely unacceptable". In a television appearance reported by French and Spanish media, he stressed that France is a diverse republic in which every citizen must be able to find their place regardless of origin. His reaction was particularly strong because Rajoy's wording was interpreted as denying equal status to citizens whose parents or ancestors came from other parts of the world. Under the French constitutional principle, the Republic guarantees equality before the law to all citizens without distinction of origin, race or religion. Within that framework, family history, surname or skin color do not diminish French citizenship or an athlete's right to represent the national team.
Minister responsible for combating discrimination Aurore Bergé condemned the repetition of racist messages directed at French footballers and said that athletes should be judged by their talent and performance, not by their origin. Minister for Overseas Territories Naïma Moutchou said that the same obsessions and insults regularly return after Les Bleus achieve success and called on the French Football Federation to consider legal action. The French Embassy in Madrid responded with specific figures: all 26 selected players are French citizens, 23 were born in France, and the three born outside the country also hold French citizenship. In doing so, the diplomatic mission directly rejected the assumption that parental origin or place of birth automatically determines national belonging.
Condemnation also came from various parts of the French political spectrum. Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure emphasized that France is not an ethnically defined nation and that the national team consists of French citizens united around shared republican values. French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel linked Rajoy's sentence to a series of similar attacks on the national team during the tournament. According to reports published on July 12, Rajoy had not publicly apologized or clarified the disputed wording by that point, and there was no official confirmation that the French Football Federation had initiated proceedings specifically because of his text.
Strong reactions in Spain as well
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded by saying that belonging to a country cannot be measured by surname, place of birth or skin color. He called Rajoy's comment xenophobic and ended his message by expressing the hope that the better team would win the semifinal and that racism would lose. Sánchez's reaction was reported as a clear distancing of the current Spanish government from the former prime minister's words. The controversy thereby ceased to be merely a French domestic issue and became a question of Spain's political representation ahead of a match that will be watched by a global audience.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares described Rajoy's message as painful and dangerous and stressed that it did not represent Spain. He particularly emphasized the friendly, neighborly and partnership relations with France, indicating that the government was trying to prevent an individual column from turning into a broader diplomatic dispute. Some Spanish politicians and commentators were even harsher, while others warned that the debate should not be reduced to party competition. The key fact remained unchanged: a former head of government had publicly disputed the French character of a team made up of French citizens, and his political stature increased the reach and consequences of the message.
Facts about the composition of the French national team
The French Football Federation published the official list of 26 players for the World Cup on May 14, 2026. It includes, among others, captain Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Mike Maignan, William Saliba, Jules Koundé, Aurélien Tchouaméni, N’Golo Kanté and Marcus Thuram. The team reflects the demographic diversity of contemporary France, including players whose families have roots in Africa, the Caribbean, French overseas territories and other parts of Europe. However, information about family origin is not proof that the players are not French; it shows different life and family paths within the same country and the same national team.
The claim that the team plays "without Frenchmen" is therefore not only factually problematic but also raises the issue of double standards. Athletes from the majority ethnic group generally do not have their nationality questioned through genealogy, while players of visibly minority origin are often required to provide additional proof of belonging. Such logic becomes particularly pronounced during major tournaments, when national symbols, flags and anthems become part of mass political communication. The success of a diverse team can then be presented as evidence of social inclusion, yet the same players can become targets of exclusion as soon as the discussion shifts from results to the question of who supposedly looks sufficiently "national".
A debate that has followed Les Bleus for decades
Since its victory at the 1998 World Cup, the French national football team has been a symbol of a broader debate about identity, migration and the republican model of citizenship. The team led by Zinedine Zidane was often described publicly at the time by the expression "black-blanc-beur", highlighting the presence of Black, white and North African-origin French players. The slogan was celebrated as an image of a united and diverse country, but it soon became clear that sporting success had not eliminated political and social conflicts over belonging. The same pattern returned after the 2018 title, the 2022 final and with new generations of national team players.
The question of who is a "real" French person has long been present in the rhetoric of the French far right, and the national football team often serves as the most visible stage for that conflict. When politicians outside France adopt similar wording, the debate takes on an international dimension: it is no longer only about French integration policy, but about European and global attitudes toward citizenship, migration and ethnic diversity. Rajoy's comment therefore prompted such a strong response not merely because of one sentence, but also because of the history of messages in which athletes of minority origin are credited for their success while simultaneously being denied full national belonging.
A series of attacks during the 2026 World Cup
The controversy is not an isolated incident. Only a few days earlier, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla published racist insults against Kylian Mbappé following France's victory over Paraguay. The French Football Federation condemned her messages and filed a complaint, while French prosecutors opened an investigation into possible public insults and incitement to hatred or violence, the Associated Press reported. The Paraguayan government distanced itself from the senator's statements, while Mbappé, France's top state officials and FIFA publicly condemned the attack.
In Argentina, additional controversy was caused by Hebe Casado, deputy governor of Mendoza Province, who called France an "African team" and directed derogatory comments at Mbappé. French Ambassador to Argentina Romain Nadal described such words as unquestionably racist and said that they had no place in French-Argentine cooperation. When Rajoy's text appeared immediately after those events, French officials did not view it as a separate misstep, but as another episode in a series of public attacks against the same national team. For that reason, the responses included not only political criticism but also calls for sporting institutions to use legal and disciplinary mechanisms.
FIFA warns of an increase in racist abuse
FIFA data show that the problem is considerably broader than a few statements by prominent politicians. According to a report by FIFA's Social Media Protection Service, more than six million posts and comments were analyzed during the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, and around 89,000 abusive items were detected. FIFA stated that more than one-tenth of the recorded attacks were racially motivated and that racist abuse is becoming a persistent threat to players' well-being. One thousand user accounts were flagged for further investigation, while a large number of comments were hidden as part of moderation efforts.
In recent years, world football's governing body has introduced protocols and campaigns against discrimination, including a global crossed-arms gesture through which players and referees can signal a racist incident. At the same time, the French Football Federation runs its own programs against violence, racism, antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. Nevertheless, the frequency of attacks shows that institutional campaigns alone cannot eliminate the problem, particularly when discriminatory messages come from people with major political or media visibility. Their status increases the likelihood that stereotypes will spread far beyond the original audience and become an accepted part of supporter or political discourse.
Semifinal under the political spotlight
According to FIFA's official schedule, France and Spain will meet on July 14 in Dallas, on France's national holiday. France reached the semifinal with a 2-0 victory over Morocco, while Spain defeated Belgium 2-1. It is a meeting between two national teams that have been among the most successful in world and European football in recent years, but the sporting buildup has now been partly overshadowed by a debate about the boundaries of national identity. The players and coaching staffs are not responsible for the political controversy, but they will perform in an atmosphere in which every gesture, statement and reaction will also be viewed beyond the footballing context.
Rajoy's column showed how quickly a single formulation can change the tone of a major sporting event. Instead of the usual discussions about tactics, Mbappé's form, Spain's attack or Deschamps's defense, part of the public has spent the days before the match debating whether citizens can be denied their national identity because of their families' origins. French institutions responded that all national team players are French, while the Spanish government sought to clearly separate the state from the former prime minister's message. The result will decide matters on the pitch, but the social debate opened by the comment will not disappear with the final whistle.
Sources:
- El Debate – Mariano Rajoy's original column published on July 10, 2026. (link)
- El País – reactions from the French and Spanish governments and figures from the French Embassy concerning the national team players (link)
- Le Monde – context of Rajoy's text, earlier attacks on the French national team and political reactions (link)
- French Football Federation – official list of 26 players for the 2026 World Cup (link)
- FIFA – schedule and information about the France-Spain semifinal (link)
- FIFA – report on abusive and racially motivated posts during the group stage of the 2026 World Cup (link)
- Légifrance – Article 1 of the French Constitution on the equality of citizens without distinction of origin, race or religion (link)
- Associated Press – investigation following racist insults directed at Kylian Mbappé by a Paraguayan senator (link)