Overview
- Former prime minister Mariano Rajoy wrote in El Debate on July 10 that France’s World Cup squad “does not have any French players,” a line that quickly attracted attention because Spain and France were due to meet in the semifinal.
- Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez called the remark “xenophobic” on X, and Spain’s foreign minister urged Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo to disavow Rajoy.
- The French embassy in Madrid posted a factual rebuttal noting that all squad members hold French citizenship and that 23 of 26 were born in France.
- Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, and French ministers described Rajoy’s words as carrying an intolerable or unacceptable tone of racism.
- The episode has been framed alongside earlier racially charged attacks on the French team during the tournament and could heighten diplomatic and public tensions around the match while existing FIFA anti‑racism protocols remain the formal route for on‑pitch incidents.