Mariano Rajoy, Spain's former Prime Minister, is facing a wave of condemnation from French politicians after claiming in a column that the France national team has no French players — remarks widely labelled as racist by officials and commentators on both sides of the border.

Rajoy, who governed Spain between 2011 and 2018, made the comments in a piece published on July 10 in Spanish outlet El Debate, previewing the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final between France and Spain.