Rajoy calls France squad "team with no French players" ahead of World Cup semi-final against Spain

Former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy described the French national team as a squad composed “with no French players” in an op-ed published in the newspaper El Debate, ahead of the 2026 World Cup semi-final scheduled for Tuesday evening between France and Spain.

In this piece, the ex-leader of the Popular Party — a conservative right-wing party that governed Spain from 2011 to 2018 — begins by acknowledging the sporting quality of the Blues. “This team has won all its matches in this World Cup and currently occupies first place in the FIFA rankings,” he writes. “It also has a very high-level squad.” Before adding: “Admittedly, with no French players. And it plays very well. It will be a formidable opponent.”

This slip comes in a context already marked by several racist remarks targeting the French squad since the start of the competition. Earlier in the tournament, former Paraguayan goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert had called the Blues an “African squad” before the match between Paraguay and France.

Rajoy’s comments echo a recurring discourse that consists of contesting the national identity of French players because of their origins. France, twice World Cup champions and finalists in the last edition, approaches this semi-final at the top of the FIFA rankings.