Rajoy's statement about France's national team sparks diplomatic criticism

Paris – 13 July 2026: A remark by former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy about the French national football team has sparked a political controversy shortly before the World Cup semi-final against Spain. Rajoy wrote in a column that France had a squad of high quality but played without French players. The statement was criticised in France and Spain as racist and xenophobic.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez clearly distanced himself from his predecessor on Sunday, 12 July. Belonging must not be judged by family name, place of birth or skin colour, Sanchez said. Spain belonged to those who loved the country and contributed to it through their work. He coupled his criticism with the hope that the better team would win the semi-final and racism would lose.

Rajoy, who served as Spain’s prime minister from 2011 to 2018, published his comment after Spain reached the World Cup semi-finals. France and Spain are due to play each other in Dallas on Tuesday, 14 July 2026. The sporting encounter therefore falls on France’s national holiday and takes on an additional symbolic dimension through the political dispute.

The French government also responded. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described Rajoy’s words as completely unacceptable and referred to the republican principle that every person, regardless of their origin, can have a place in France. Aurore Berge, the minister responsible for combating discrimination, called for athletes to be judged by their performance rather than their ascribed origins.

The French embassy in Madrid clarified the facts in a public statement: all 26 players selected for the tournament hold French citizenship. Of these, 23 were born in France; the three players born abroad are also French. Under the rules of international football, a national team may only field players who hold the citizenship of the country they represent.

The affair touches on a long-running dispute over the understanding of national belonging. France defines its political community in republican and civic, rather than ethnic, terms. The national team’s successes in particular have repeatedly sparked debates in the past about migration, skin colour and national identity. Rajoy’s wording draws on this familiar interpretive pattern, even though it ignores the players’ legal citizenship.

The reactions from Madrid also show that the statement is not regarded as the position of the Spanish government. Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called it hurtful and dangerous. Sanchez countered it with a political message: France and Spain are neighbours, partners and allies. The match on 14 July will therefore be played as a sporting contest, while the dispute over Rajoy’s words has already become a question of republican principles.