France captain Kylian Mbappe has hit back at Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla over racist slurs she directed at him following the Round of 16 clash between their nations at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Amarilla, who sits in Paraguay's Liberal Radical Party, fired the barbs on X after France beat Paraguay.
Mbappe responded with fury on social media, calling the senator "despicable" and questioning her fitness for office. "Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position," he wrote.
The French star went further, arguing that Amarilla didn't speak for Paraguay or its players. "You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honour throughout the competition," he said.
He accused her of dragging her nation's reputation through the mud with her bigotry. "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," Mbappe added.
The French Football Federation condemned the remarks as "utterly abhorrent and unacceptable" and vowed to pursue legal action. "These remarks are criminal and reprehensible.
They must be prosecuted here as elsewhere," the FFF said in a statement.
The federation stressed that attacks on Mbappe amounted to insults directed at France itself. "The players of the French national team represent France; it is our country that is being insulted," officials noted.
