French embassy in Spain rebuts Mariano Rajoy over France squad nationality claim | OneFootball

The French embassy in Spain said in a post on X that every member of the France squad is French, adding that 23 of the 26 were born in France and the other three are also French.

It came after Mariano Rajoy made racist claims about the team’s make-up. Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister from 2011 to 2018, set out the assertion in an opinion piece that nevertheless acknowledged France’s very high level.

His intervention follows recent racist insults from Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla directed at captain Kylian Mbappé.

Spain are due to face France in the 2026 World Cup semi-finals.

The embassy framed its message as a factual correction to those remarks.

Source: L'Équipe