Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
France and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe has responded to Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla after she criticised him on social media. Her tirade included racist comments, and followed on from the bad-tempered encounter between Les Bleus and Paraguay in the World Cup Round of 16 on Saturday.
Mbappe was at the heart of things throughout, with the Paraguayan players doing their best to provoke a reaction from the Real Madrid star. Ultimately, he was decisive, slotting away a penalty in the second half that gave France the victory. He finished the game laughing in the face of Paraguayan defenders who were trying to get him to take the bait.
Paraguayan senator abuses Kylian Mbappe after France-Paraguay
The following day, Amarilla took to social media to abuse Mbappe online, questioning his identity due to his skin colour and heritage.
“Colonised Cameroonian, pretending hard to be French, resentful, newly rich, arrogant, and ugly. 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.”
Camerunés colonizado, fingiendo duro ser francés, resentido, rico nuevo, prepotente y feo. Estuvo nervioso y muerto de miedo todo el partido, como todo su equipo, no pudieron meter ni un gol, ganaron de ped…
Lo único que muchos reclamamos a la Albirroja es no haberle dado una… pic.twitter.com/DDjq5E9kHJ
— Celeste Senadora (@CelesteSenadora) July 5, 2026
Far from a loss of temper, Amarilla doubled down with a second abusive tweet, again racially abusing Mbappe.
“The brute didn’t even learn to write; instead of mother’s milk, he sucked on coconuts, and the most educated thing he heard were chimpanzees. You should’ve shown him the finger, Orlando Gill; I do it in the senate and nothing happens!!!”
Bruto no aprendió ni a escribir, en vez de leche materna chupaba cocos y lo más instruido que escucho eran chimpancés. Le hubieras mostrado el dedo Orlando Gill, yo lo hago en el senado y no pasa nada !!! https://t.co/9TAVQoGVsb
— Celeste Senadora (@CelesteSenadora) July 5, 2026
Mbappe fires back response – ‘Despicable woman’
Later on Monday, Mbappe used his own social media to respond to Amarilla with the following message.
“Madame Celeste Amarilla, You are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition.”
Madame Celeste Amarilla,
Vous êtes une femme méprisable et indigne de sa fonction.
Vous ne représentez pas le Paraguay, ce pays qui a transpiré la passion et l’honneur tout au long de la compétition. Par votre inconscience et votre racisme décomplexé, le monde entier a déjà… pic.twitter.com/EnYmgQXvPL
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) July 6, 2026
“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.”
This is not the first or the last time that Mbappe will have to deal with racial abuse, but he has always been vocal in calling out and seeking punishment for those behind it. Mbappe was one of the players that backed Vinicius Junior most, after Gianluca Prestianni abused the Brazilian during their Champions League clash earlier in the year.