Paris Olympics: Argentina public enemy no 1 in France after players’ racist chanting
- Rematch of the World Cup final in Bordeaux but relations between two sides worsened after Copa America final antics
There is no love lost between France and Argentina on the football field these days and their quarter-final meeting in Bordeaux on Friday will add spice to the men’s Olympic tournament.
The last-eight clash between the rivals is in many ways exactly what was needed for a competition mainly reserved for players aged under 23, lacking in star names and struggling to attract attention from the general football public.
There will be plenty of reasons to follow the encounter between two of the leading contenders to go all the way and win gold in Paris on August 9.
It will be the first meeting of the nations since Argentina players were recorded singing racist chants about their French counterparts as they celebrated winning the Copa America in mid-July.
Fifa announced that it would investigate the chants, which targeted France’s star striker Kylian Mbappe among others and included racist and homophobic insults.
The chants even led to a diplomatic incident, with Argentina apologising after the South American country’s vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, wrote on X that France was a “colonialist country”. “Enough with feigned outrage, hypocrites,” she added.