A fresh row over racism towards the French team has broken out in the build up to Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final showdown between France and Spain after a former Madrid prime minister described the team as not French.Former conservative leader Mariano Rajoy wrote in a newspaper column that the French team was “of a very high level, certainly, though without French players”, setting off a furious reaction.“France has no skin colour. Any statement to the contrary is either stupid, racist or a combination of both. This exceptional team shows the best side of France,” foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told French television.Barrot said he was confident the performance of the French team in the match would deliver the best response.French interior minister Laurent Nuñez called Rajoy’s words “absolutely unacceptable” while France’s anti-discrimination minister Aurore Bergé called for an end to “repeated racist outbursts”.“It’s time they stopped and that sport becomes sport again: a place where you are judged on your talent and by no other criteria,” she said.The remarks even drew a clarifying statement from France’s embassy in Spain.“Without wanting to wade into controversy, let’s recall the facts. All the players of the French team are French. Of 26 players, 23 were born in France. The three who were born abroad are also French,” the embassy wrote.“The words of Mariano Rajoy about the French team give off the unacceptable whiff of racism,” French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo wrote on social media.“Our players don’t need any certificate of nationality from a former Spanish Prime Minister. The French national team belongs to France.”Sin querer entrar en una polémica, conviene recordar los hechos:Todos los jugadores de la selección francesa son franceses. De los 26 jugadores, 23 nacieron en Francia. Los 3 que nacieron en el exterior son franceses también. @francediplo @equipedefrance @kareen_rispal— La France en Espagne 🇫🇷🇪🇸 (@france_espagne) July 12, 2026