Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal of the game as France beat Paraguay 1-0 in Philadelphia on Saturday to advance to the World Cup quarter-finals. But the victory was overshadowed by a racist tirade from a Paraguayan senator, who launched an attack on the France captain.
Celeste Amarilla, of Paraguay's Liberal Radical Party, wrote a long post on X after the match, describing Mbappé as a “colonised Cameroonian, desperately trying to pass himself off as French” and a “brute who had not learned to write”. She added that Paraguay's players should have slapped him after the match.
“Kylian Mbappé called Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla a 'despicable woman' after she made racist remarks following France's World Cup win.”
Mbappé responded with a strongly worded statement defending not only himself but also the Paraguay players. “Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honour throughout the competition,” he wrote.
“Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players accomplished during this World Cup, making way for an incompetent woman who gives the worst possible image of her country. I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world.”
The French Football Federation (FFF) escalated the matter, announcing plans to file criminal charges, describing Amarilla’s remarks as “utterly abhorrent and unacceptable”. In a statement, the FFF said: “These remarks are criminal and reprehensible. They must be prosecuted here as elsewhere. The FFF is reporting the matter to the public prosecutor's office with a view to legal proceedings.”
“These remarks bring shame upon those who make them and those who disseminate them. The players of the French national team represent France; it is our country that is being insulted.”
The incident follows controversial comments from former Paraguay goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, who said before the match that his national side were facing “a squad from Africa”. FFF president Philippe Diallo condemned Chilavert’s remarks, calling him a “disgrace”. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the racist remarks made by Jose Luis Chilavert against the French national team, which undermine the values of respect, fraternity, and diversity in our football. If he was once a great goalkeeper, this man has now fallen into disgrace,” Diallo said.
Mbappé, who has seven goals in the tournament and is joint top-scorer alongside Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Norway’s Erling Haaland, will lead France against Morocco in Boston on Thursday. The FFF’s pursuit of criminal charges sends a clear message that such racism will not be tolerated.