Serbian consultant Bogdanovic makes racist remarks on air about Black players

Former Yugoslav international striker Rade Bogdanovic made openly racist remarks Sunday evening on a Serbian television channel during coverage of the 0-0 draw between Belgium and Iran at the 2026 World Cup.

Commentating for the channel, Bogdanovic was discussing the expulsion of Belgian defender Nathan Ngoy, a LOSC player, in the 66th minute when he said: “I’ve always said that these players, and I’m not racist, but these Black guys don’t have the concentration needed to last more than 60 to 80 minutes.” The show’s presenter attempted to counter this claim by citing the French team as a counterexample. Bogdanovic did not back down: “If we go into details, they also make mistakes. In any case, I’m not generalizing, but the vast majority lack concentration and that’s when mistakes like this happen.”

The 56-year-old former striker, who played notably for Atlético Madrid and Werder Bremen as well as clubs in Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, then invoked his own career to try to justify himself to a studio that was trying to make him see reason. “I played with them,” he said. “And sometimes we had to prevent our own teammates from making mistakes.”

Sportively, this draw forces Belgium — already held to a draw by Egypt in their opening match — to beat New Zealand in four days to have any hope of continuing their campaign in the competition.