Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla has launched another scathing attack on France captain Kylian Mbappé, escalating a controversy that has drawn international condemnation and prompted a criminal investigation in France.
Amarilla, who faced widespread criticism after making racist remarks about the French star following Paraguay’s 1-0 defeat to France in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, refused to retract her comments. Instead, she renewed her criticism of Mbappé with fresh insults while insisting she had done nothing wrong.
Her latest remarks come days after Mbappé publicly condemned the senator, accusing her of “brazen racism” and saying she had damaged Paraguay’s international image by overshadowing the national team’s historic World Cup campaign.
Paraguay also faced criticism for its combative approach during the Round of 16 encounter, with many observers accusing the team of repeatedly crossing the line in an effort to unsettle their opponents. The South Americans were criticised for persistent fouls, alleged simulation, and overly aggressive tactics throughout the match.
Mbappé scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot. After the match, Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill claimed the France captain refused to shake his hand, an allegation that fuelled Amarilla’s latest outburst.
“When Orlando Gill, a young man who was probably setting foot in the World Cup for the first time, who was probably discovering Europe for the first time, was playing in front of the whole world and extended his hand with all the humility of a Paraguayan, this son of a bitch refused to shake his hand and shouted in his face,” Amarilla declared in the Senate on Wednesday, according to RMC Sport.
“That is not French. A Frenchman would never have done that. France is Jean-Jacques Rousseau, René Descartes, Montesquieu, Victor Hugo, Simone de Beauvoir, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
“I refuse to reduce all of this immense France, as well as its immense cultural, artistic and democratic heritage, to Mbappé.”
Following the match, Amarilla also posted a series of inflammatory messages on social media platform X, including racist insults directed at the France captain.
In one post, she wrote: “This brute hasn’t even learned to write,” before adding: “You should’ve shown him the finger, Orlando Gill; I do it in the Senate and nothing happens!!!”
In a separate post, she described Mbappé as “pretending hard to be French, resentful, newly rich, arrogant, and ugly.”
She continued: “He was nervous and scared to death the whole match, like his entire team; they couldn’t even score a goal, they won by a fluke…
“The only thing many of us demanded of the Albirroja is not to have slapped him open-handed after the match ended. And that’s despite not being a soccer fan.”
In the aftermath of Paraguay’s World Cup exit, videos circulated on social media appearing to show some Paraguay supporters publicly burning effigies of the France captain.
