Claim: Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla made racist remarks about French soccer captain Kylian Mbappé after France defeated Paraguay 1-0 during the World Cup.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has come to an end, with Spain beating Argentina 1–0 to claim their second World Cup title. While the tournament delivered plenty of memorable moments, one incident generated significant attention off the pitch. Following France’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the Round of 16 on July 4, 2026, at Lincoln Financial Field, a controversy erupted involving French captain Kylian Mbappé and Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla.

After the final whistle, Mbappé walked past Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill without acknowledging his attempt to shake hands. Frustrated, Gill threw the ball in Mbappé’s direction, though the French forward seemed unaware that it had hit him. In the days that followed, reports emerged alleging that Amarilla made racist remarks about Mbappé in response to what she viewed as his disrespectful behavior on the field.

But is that really the case? Here’s what we found!

Our Verdict: True

Amarilla’s social media posts are well documented. On Saturday, July 4, she published a series of messages on X targeting Mbappé, describing him as a “colonized Cameroonian, pretending hard to be French.” She also wrote that “the only thing many of us demanded of La Albirroja is not to have slapped him open-handed after the match ended.”

She later shared another post alongside a photo of Mbappé celebrating in front of Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill. In that post, Amarilla called the French captain a “brute” who never learned to write, adding that instead of drinking breast milk as a baby, he “sucked on coconuts” and that “the most intelligent things he heard were chimpanzees.”

Mbappé did not let the remarks go unanswered. The French star responded on X, making his feelings about Amarilla’s comments clear.

“You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition,” Mbappé 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.”

Celeste Amarilla responded with an open letter to Kylian Mbappé

After Mbappé’s response, Celeste Amarilla took to X and shared an open letter to Kylian Mbappé. She said she regretted having “mistreated [Mbappé] with the same insults” she has received as someone of a mixed-race background. Amarilla also added that she understands “that it bothered you, because it’s humiliating.” 

However, she demanded Mbappé apologize to her for calling her a “despicable woman” and “unworthy of [her] position.” She also branded it as “pure and hard gender violence” and said that he “attacks [her] because [she] is a woman.” She said if he did not apologize, she would take legal action “for gender violence.”

Our fact-checking sources:

• Reuters, July 20, 2026. Spain beat Argentina to win World Cup
• Facebook, July 5, 2026. Post by Football Insider
• X (Formerly Twitter). Celeste Senadora’s profile
• The Providence Journal, July 9, 2026. FINAL: France wins 2-0 to eliminate Morocco from World Cup
• X (Formerly Twitter), July 6, 2026. Celeste Senadora’s post
• X (Formerly Twitter), July 7, 2026. Celeste Senadora’s post