French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo didn’t hold back. He called former Paraguay goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert’s recent comments about the French national team “racist” and “disgraceful” in a statement posted to X on Saturday. The whole thing started when Chilavert, now 60, took a shot at France ahead of their World Cup round of 16 matchup.
Chilavert shared a screenshot on social media of what he said were remarks from former French forward Christophe Dugarry. Dugarry supposedly said Paraguay would get crushed by Les Bleus. Chilavert replied to that by saying, “Christophe, you’re right. In 1998 we faced the French and now PY will face a squad from Africa.”
The “squad from Africa” line is what set off Diallo. France’s national team is famously diverse, with players of African, Caribbean and other backgrounds. Chilavert’s comment essentially dismissed that diversity as somehow making the team less French. Which is a pretty old and tired take, frankly.
Diallo’s statement read: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the racist remarks made by José Luis Chilavert against the French national team, which undermine the values of respect, fraternity, and diversity in our football.”
Old beef, new tournament
Chilavert and Dugarry have history. They faced off at the 1998 World Cup when France beat Paraguay 1-0 in the round of 16. France went on to win that tournament, their first world title, beating Brazil in the final. So this feels like a 28-year-old grudge getting dusted off.
This year’s matchup in Philadelphia went pretty much the same way. France won 1-0 again, this time on a Kylian Mbappe penalty. That penalty came after a lengthy VAR review for a foul by Paraguay’s Diego Gomez on Desire Doue. The game got chippy. Paraguay played rough, racking up fouls on French players without getting a single yellow card. That earned them criticism from BBC pundit Joe Hart, who called their tactics “disgraceful.” France coach Didier Deschamps had to pull Mbappe away from a confrontation at full time to keep him from picking up a suspension.
France now heads to Boston to face Morocco on July 9. Morocco beat co-hosts Canada 3-0 to set up that quarterfinal matchup. Whether Chilavert has more to say about that game remains to be seen.
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