Spain’s former prime minister criticized the “xenophobic” language of France’s World Cup team | World Cup 2026 news

Mariano Rajoy has been criticized for his views on the Spanish website El Debate during the World Cup.

Former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is facing criticism at home and in France after he said his football team “doesn’t have any French players”.

The comments, published in Spanish online newspaper El Debate on Sunday, came as Spain prepare to face France in the Titanic World Cup semifinal on Tuesday.

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The current Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, condemned the speech as “xenophobic”.

“There are some who still try to adopt a name, place of birth, or skin color.

Spain belongs to people who love it and work for it.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente dismissed Rajoy as a “post-Franco idiot”.

French politicians also criticized Rajoy’s comments.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told French broadcaster BFMTV that it was “unacceptable”.

The leader of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, compared what Rajoy said to what Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla said. He also claimed after Paraguay was eliminated by France in the Round of 16 that star player Kylian Mbappe was “a Cameroonian pretending to be French”.

Roussel said: “They cannot afford to stop this disgusting discrimination.”

The anti-racism minister, Aurore Berge, also condemned the “repeated outbursts of racism”.

“It’s time for it to stop and the game becomes a game again: a place where you are judged by your skills without any other options,” he said.

Naima Moutchou, France’s foreign affairs minister, called the comments evidence of a “systematic blackness and spread of France and the country”.

“Every time Les Bleus win, the same prejudices and insults start again,” he said.

France “has no skin or religion,” said French Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure on X.

The French ambassador in Madrid also responded on social media.

“All the players in the French team are French. Of the 26 players, 23 were born in France. The three who were born abroad are French.”

Philippe Diallo, the president of the French Football Federation, wrote that Rajoy’s comments contained “unlawful racist remarks”.