Spanish PM Blasts Former PM's 'Xenophobic Statements' About French Football Team

Former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is facing accusations of racism after writing that France’s World Cup team has no French players, prompting fierce condemnation from officials in both Spain and France.

A newspaper column written by former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has ignited a political firestorm across two countries, after he suggested that France’s World Cup team lacks any actual French players. The remarks, published ahead of Spain’s semi-final matchup against France, have drawn sharp condemnation from officials on both sides of the border.

Rajoy, who governed Spain from 2011 to 2018, penned the piece for the online outlet El Debate on Friday, using it to preview the high-stakes clash between the two national teams. He acknowledged France’s pedigree, noting the team had won the World Cup twice before, reached the final in the last tournament, gone undefeated so far in this one, and currently sits atop FIFA’s world rankings. He also called their roster top level. But then came the line that set off the controversy: he claimed the team, despite all that success, has no French players on it, adding only that they were “playing very well” and would be a tough opponent.

“They’ve won every match they’ve played in this World Cup and are currently ranked No 1 in the Fifa rankings. They also have a top-level squad. That said, they don’t have any French players. And they’re playing very well. They’ll be a formidable opponent,” he wrote.

The backlash was swift, with critics drawing a direct line between Rajoy’s comments and a separate incident just days earlier involving a Paraguayan senator, who had launched a racist attack on French star Kylian Mbappé over social media.

Sánchez insisted that Spain belongs to those who love it and work for it, not to those who embarrass the country with xenophobic remarks.

Olivier Faure, who leads the French Socialist party, pushed back just as hard in a post on X. He stressed that every member of the national team holds French citizenship, and argued that French identity was never rooted in ethnicity in the first place. According to Faure, France is fundamentally a political nation, one held together by the republican motto rather than by skin color or religion.