Paraguay senator’s vile rant: How World Cup match spiralled into racist attack on Mbappé

A FIFA Wold Cup clash between France and Paraguay has snowballed into a vicious racist attack on the former’s captain Kylian Mbappé by a senator of the latter.

A vile racist post on social media by the senator, Celeste Amarilla, after France’s 1–0 victory over Paraguay in the Round of 16 has now blown up into a massive international controversy.

After Mbappé scored the match’s deciding penalty kick on Saturday (July 4), Amarilla published a highly racist post targeted at the player’s heritage, prompting fierce backlash from Mbappé, the French government, the French Football Federation (FFF), as well as the Paraguayan government.

A racist rant

Amarilla, of Paraguay’s Authentic Radical Liberal Party, published several derogatory statements on X and Instagram. Apparently, frustration over reports concerning Mbappé’s conduct towards Paraguay’s goalkeeper triggered her outburst.

Also read: Kylian Mbappe fires France past Paraguay, into FIFA World Cup quarterfinals

In her post, she called Mbappé a “colonised Cameroonian” who is “desperately trying to pass himself off as French. She labelled him “resentful, newly rich, arrogant, and ugly”, and claimed he “had not learned to write”. She wished that Paraguayan players had physically assaulted him with an “open-handed slap” after the game.

In fact, she wrote much worse—a full-fledged racist rant—but later deleted the post and posted something that still smacks of racism. In the original, she allegedly wrote, “This brute hasn’t even learned to write. Instead of breastmilk, he grew up sucking on coconuts, and the most educated creatures he ever heard were chimpanzees.”

Mbappé and French govt’s reply

Mbappé fired back directly with a public statement on Monday (July 6), posting a picture of the senator and heavily criticizing her behaviour: “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. 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 you the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world.”

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the remarks on X, writing, “Another goal for Kylian Mbappé. Against racism this time. All my support. When words smear, our values respond: dignity, respect, fraternity.”

The Élysée Palace also confirmed that the Paraguayan president directly contacted Macron to condemn the senator’s behaviour.

French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari heavily criticized the politician, stating on social media that by attacking Mbappé, the senator “is attacking everything our captain embodies and everything our country stands for: liberty, equality, and fraternity”.

“I am absolutely outraged by the remarks made by Paraguayan Senator Céleste Amarilla. France condemns in the strongest possible terms the racist attacks targeting Kylian Mbappé. These remarks are abhorrent, unworthy, and all the more unacceptable given that they come from a political figure. In the face of racism, we will not remain silent,” she added.

FFF’s condemnation

The French Football Federation soon came up with a statement standing by its captain and slamming the Paraguayan senator.

“The racist remarks by Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla targeting Kylian Mbappé are utterly abhorrent and unacceptable. How can anyone make such statements? These remarks are criminal and reprehensible. They must be prosecuted here as elsewhere. The FFF is filing a report with the prosecutor’s office for the purpose of judicial action.

“The Federation extends its full support to its captain, its players, and more generally to all victims of such odious remarks. Now more than ever, the FFF is committed to fighting racism and all forms of discrimination. These remarks dishonour those who make them and those who spread them. The players of the France National Team represent France; it is our country that is being insulted,” it wrote.

A note from Paraguay government

The Paraguay government also issued a statement quickly, saying it “deplores and rejects the expressions of Senator Celeste Amarilla directed at the captain of the French national team, Kylian Mbappé, which are contrary to the values and principles that inspire peaceful coexistence and respect for human dignity promoted by the country”.

The government made it clear that it had nothing to do with the senator’s statement.

“The Government of Paraguay reaffirms its firm commitment to the promotion of human rights, equality, and respect between people, the fight against racism, xenophobia, intolerance, and any manifestation of hatred or discrimination. Likewise, it expresses its solidarity with those who may have felt affected by these statements and reiterates its respect towards the French people, with whom Paraguay maintains a historical relationship of friendship, cooperation, and mutual understanding.”

Senator’s open letter

However, the senator was not to be daunted. She shot back with an “open letter” to Mbappé. “The problem is between you and me. I have never said anything against France,” she said. She added that she herself studied in France until she was 17, speaks French, and loves visiting France. “Nothing to do with France, the problem is with you,” she repeated.

“Your arrogance and your contempt have annoyed me a lot since before the match, when you said: ‘We must put our hands in the sh*t, let’s go and put them’, we are not stupid, we understand perfectly that the shit was the Paraguayan team and that the Paraguayan team is all of us,” she claimed. It must be mentioned here that “putting one’s hand in sh*t” is equivalent to “getting one’s hands dirty” and Mbappé possibly meant matching Paraguay’s rough game.

Also read: Mbappe scores 7th World Cup 2026 goal, pips Messi again in seesaw Golden Boot battle

Anyhow, she went on, “Then you said that they should take off the makeup, we also understand that you are so elegant with makeup and we, poor and rough as we are, do not even know what it is. During the match, your arrogant behaviour was visible, your contempt for every player, as if they were disgusting and without covering your mouth, when you said ‘your mother’s shell’, a highly aggressive phrase in Latin America, and you know it.”

Amarilla’s ‘boiling blood’

Amarilla claimed Mbappé had also disrespected the Paraguayan goalkeeper. “Respect for rivals after a match is almost sacred, in war as in peace, in defeat as in victory, and you did not shake his hand and you shouted your victory in his face, that is not done. You showed your contempt, your arrogance, and your bad education in one second,” she said, adding that it hurt her and her country. “France should reproach you for it, because it is a country of knights, with centuries of history,” she claimed.

Instead of apologising for her repulsive post, she claimed that it came from her “boiling blood, this mixed blood, a beautiful mixture of indigenous blood with Spanish blood that runs through my veins”.

Also read: World Cup Golden Boot race explodes into 3-way tie as Haaland equals Mbappe, Messi

“However, immediately after, I repented for having mistreated you with the same insults that I receive, because I too am despised for being a mestiza (a woman of mixed race) and Latina, dirty they call us. I repented and I deleted the post. I realized that I was repeating the patterns that I hate and I deleted it. I understand that it upset you, because it is humiliating,” she wrote.

Demand for apology and counter-charge

Next, she “demanded” that Mbappé “retract as well” and “apologize” to her. “Neither me, nor anyone else, will tolerate your violence. You do not know me, you have no idea who I am and you have absolutely no right to say that I AM A DESPICABLE WOMAN, UNWORTHY OF THE ROLE I HOLD. I am a Senator of the Paraguayan Nation elected by votes…” she went on, claiming that her “main commitment is to be the voice of the Paraguayan people”.

In the next paragraph, she charged Mbappé with “pure and hard gender violence”. “Precisely, you despise me because of my gender, precisely you offend me because I am a woman, you attack neither my colour, nor my preferences, you attack my condition as a woman and my political position. Retract yourself, honour your French citizenship and present an apology, otherwise I could initiate legal actions for gender violence,” she signed off.

It remains to be seen how the drama unfolds from here.