A resentment between France and Argentina has been growing since the 2022 World Cup final when the South American side defeated Les Bleus on penalties. The French team and public were appalled by Argentina’s celebrations which saw Emiliano Martínez (31) mock Kylian Mbappé (25) and carry around a baby doll with the French captain’s image plastered onto the head during the nation’s open-top bus parade. 

It was during this parade that the Argentine fans could be heard racially insulting Mbappé and the French team, something that drew criticism from the European nation at the time. However, while this matter was never resolved there was a sense that enough time and distance between the two nations had allowed for the most part the animosity to quieten. 

This was until the Argentina national team won the Copa América. In the celebrations caught on video by Enzo Fernández (23), the squad could be heard chanting a racist and transphobic song popularised by Argentina fans during the 2022 World Cup. The actions of the team have drawn almost universal criticism outside of the South American nation, which remains more divided on the issue. 

It is hardly a surprise that the Argentina U23s will receive a cold and hostile welcome from the French stadiums across the nation as they look to compete in the Olympic Games. However, it appears to have also spread to the other sports, with the Argentina rugby team also receiving an unwelcome reception. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

The song originated from Argentina supporters and was heard for the first time during the 2022 World Cup, in which the Albiceleste famously won the final on penalties against France. The racially-motivated lyrics roughly translates to “They play for France, but they are from Angola. His mother is Nigerian, his father is Cameroonian. But on the passport: French.”

AFP reports, citing a source within the French FA, that the FFF have referred the matter to FIFA. It remains to be seen whether the international governing body of football will acknowledge the request of the French FA.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

After victories in the Round of 16, England and France were drawn against each other in the quarter-finals of the competition in which many believed to be the closest game to call of the round. Eventually, France emerged victorious from the tie with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Aurélien Tchouaméni and Olivier Giroud. 

Les Bleus took the lead in the game twice only for England captain Harry Kane to miss a second penalty which all but confirmed France’s place in the semi-finals and sent the Three Lions home. The encounter offered a close battle between the two teams who are now the bookies’ favourites to win EURO 2024.  

‘I thought we could win’ 

Reflecting on the defeat against Les Bleus in 2022, Southgate said, “It’s a match from which we learned a lot, especially about details that were not in our favour. We conceded two goals that we could have avoided and, in the offensive phase, there were situations that we should have exploited better. But overall, our overall performance had been good, in many areas. Before the match, I said to the players: If we had faced France in 2018, I would have hoped that we would win, but I wasn’t sure that we could. But today, we can win.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith

It was noticeable then that Stéphanie Frappart received a 1 from the paper for her refereeing performance during Olympique Lyonnais’s 3-0 victory over Valenciennes FC in the Coupe de France semi-final. 

A decision from L’Équipe that VAFC’s head coach Ahmed Kantari would likely agree with,  but one that seemed somewhat harsh, and a rating that has carried with it the accusation of sexism. 

In 2011, Frappart became a referee in the third division of French football, and from there has steadily made progress and eventually earned a role overseeing games in the top flight in 2019. 

In almost every stage of her career, Frappart has made history. She was the first woman to referee a men’s professional game in France, and the first ever to officiate a men’s Champions League game in 2020 and a men’s World Cup game in 2022. 

As well as praise for her achievements, these milestones have made her a target of intense criticism and insults. However, as L’Équipe states, their intention when awarding her with a 1 was not to “howl with wolves whose company we do not wish to keep,” as accusations of sexism began to mount over the decision. 

L’Équipe explains why it gave Stéphanie Frappart a 1 

They have defended their score by suggesting that their ratings are always up for debate and highly influenced by individual judgment and point to the fact that their team famously can never singularly agree on the score for any player. 

They continue by suggesting that Frappart had a mediocre performance that would have always earned her a 3, but specific moments like the disallowed goal and the penalty awarded to Alexandre Lacazette (32) which shaped the game, could influence their writer’s final decision. 

The paper continues by asking itself two questions: would it have awarded the same rating to a male referee? And is Frappart a victim of her own status as both a highly considered referee and a pioneer within the game? 

To the second question, L’Équipe argues that they see no relevance in repproaching her for a status that she did not choose to symbolise. They suggest considering her status when awarding her with a score would have been a form of sexism that would have disconnected her away from her role within the game to simply a figurehead for something she cannot control. 

On the point, that they would not have provided the same score to a male referee, they state that for the same reason they did not take into account her status as a pioneer in football, they did not consider her gender when awarding her the rating. 

They finish their attempt to defend and explain their score by suggesting like with refereeing there is no one fair result that will make all people happy, it is a personalised judgment call, based on an individual’s reading of the game. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

The striker was suspended from the France squad between 2015 and 2021 due to a sex tape scandal involving his teammate Mathieu Valbuena (39). His eventual return to the setup was brief, a Euros and a Nations League campaign before injuries curtailed his involvement in the Qatar World Cup. 

Sent home ahead of the competition, the player recovered quicker than anticipated and there was a muted belief that maybe he would be able to return. Whose fault and decision it was for Benzema to remain home is still up for debate, with Didier Deschamps and the forward assigning responsibility to the other. 

What is not questioned is that the competition left an indelible mark on Benzema and the uneasy detente that had defined his return to the team was over. He would retire from international duties. However, the offer of the Olympics this summer, hosted in Paris, has tempted him into putting his name into consideration. 

When asked by L’Équipe if he would like to be considered as one of the three over-aged players selected in Thierry Henry’s u23 squad, the forward replied “The Olympics? Of course, why not? It could be great!”

Karim Benzema (36) is ‘open’ to the possibility of representing France at the Olympics – the full story. (L’Éq) https://t.co/yHoZYsyZBA

— Get French Football News (@GFFN) March 20, 2024

‘The story is definitely over between Benzema and any French team’

His enthusiasm has not been matched by former French footballers, Emmanuel Petit and Jérôme Rothen speaking on Rothen s’enflamme. “It’s very clear, the relationship is broken with the French team.” Rothen stated, “It had been broken the first time, they fixed it, and then we saw what happened at the World Cup.” 

Petit agreed, “I have the impression that the story is definitely over between Benzema and any French team. I think the general public would not understand. In my opinion, his communication around the France team has been very bad in recent years. I’d like to see (Benzema at the Olympics), but it’s not possible.” 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Talking about his emotions in the aftermath of winning the World Cup, the France captain said “It may be incomprehensible, but it didn’t do much for me. I was too young and so unconscious.” The 25-year-old added, “It was a win that made me happy, but I didn’t realise I had won. I came home quickly in the evening and I didn’t celebrate like crazy.”

Mbappé was instrumental in the 2018 World Cup for Didier Deschamps’ side. Despite just being 18, the former Monaco attacker scored 4 goals during the tournament including his goal in the final which made him the tournament’s youngest scorer in a final since Pélé. He also won the Young Player of the Tournament award.

2022 brought a change of attitude

The Bondy-born attacker reassured that at the 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar, he adopted a change of attitude. Referencing the 2022 tournament, Mbappé said, “I was much more conscious at the 2022 World Cup. The 2018 World Cup was my first and we won it straight away so it didn’t create any particular emotion. In 2022, there were so many more emotions.”

This change in emotion was clear in Mbappé’s performances at the 2022 World Cup. The France international carried Les Bleus to the final scoring 8 goals including a hat trick in the final but it wasn’t enough to successfully defend their crown as world champions – losing to Argentina on penalties. 

GFFN | Liam Wraith

When the ex-Monégasque joined Todd Boehly’s newly acquired side back at the beginning of August, amongst a star-spangled crop of over £400 million’s worth of talents, some wondered whether he had the shoulders to carry the burden of being one of the leaders of such an inexperienced squad.

Admittedly, it had been an eventful few months for the Frenchman, starting on November 9th 2022, when his national team’s manager Didier Deschamps selected him, amongst 22 others, to represent the country during the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. Just three weeks later, he was given his first start against Tunisia, in the last match of the group stages. An experience which he states “changed him”.

Just under a year from then, and 11 games into the current Premier League season (10 of which he started), Disasi has carved out a place in Chelsea’s starting XI. “He (Mauricio Pochettino) gave me the necessary confidence. He didn’t hesitate to put me into [the line-up] a week after my arrival,” Disasi told L’Équipe.

“When I resumed with Monaco, I was eyeing a move, so I prepared very well during the Summer pre-season. The league was also very appealing to me […] in the long-term I knew I needed to get to a club with a bigger stature. I needed to get out of my comfort zone,” he added.

Disasi is the joint-third most-used outfield player this season, only behind club-grown Levi Colwill and Conor Gallagher. He’ll be hoping to be a part of “Dédé’s” France squad for Euro qualifier games against Gibraltar and Greece, which will be announced on Thursday.

GFFN | Alfred Lalande

Messi was influential during the 2022 edition of the World Cup in Qatar as he won it for the first time. He netted a brace in the final as Argentina beat France on penalties. It was the final trophy to add to his cabinet, and Messi has admitted that winning the trophy at least in part contributed to his move to the United States this summer. Following the expiry of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, the former Barcelona forward chose to join MLS side Inter Miami and he said that having achieved all he set out to achieve in his career, he could let himself be swayed by non-sporting factors.

Speaking to France Football, Messi has said that he wishes to play “until he feels that he no longer can,” but added that he is pessimistic of his chances of making the 2026 World Cup. “Obviously, you always want to play in these kinds of matches and even more so after becoming world champion. But there is a long time until then (2026). Even if it’ll come quickly, there are a few years before the World Cup and I don’t want to look so far ahead,” said the former PSG forward. 

He added, “It’s not about just being there just for the sake of it, but about feeling good and being able to bring something to the team. Knowing that I’ll be 39 years old, it may be difficult, but we’ll see how I feel physically.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Messi is considered one of the frontrunners to succeed Karim Benzema as the winner of the highly-coveted Ballon d’Or.The former Paris Saint-Germain forward won the World Cup with Argentina in December, The trophy was the only one that had alluded him up to that point. 

Mbappé and Haaland are both also considered frontrunners. The former is currently considered by many as the best player in the world. At international level, Mbappé scored a hat-trick in the World Cup, as France lost on penalties. He has since been named captain of Les Bleus. Haaland meanwhile had a record-breaking debut season in the Premier League and helped lead Manchester City to their first-ever UEFA Champions League. 

For Rabiot, Mbappé and Haaland are the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded on 30th October. “I hear a lot of people saying Messi will win it. But on a sporting level, it will be between Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. Saying which one of those two will be difficult, depends what it’s based on. No one ever agrees, but it will be between those two. I exclude everyone else,” said Rabiot. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

https://twitter.com/NabilFekir/status/1710403307112366293

Fekir was part of the 23-man France squad that went on to win the greatest prize there is in world football five years ago, in Russia. Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann, who both scored in the World Cup final against Croatia (4-2) have hatched the idea to give every player in Didier Deschamps’ squad a personalized 2018 World Cup winner ring, modeled on the champions’ signet ring in American leagues like the NBA.

Fekir’s World Champion ring was eventually sold for €42,500. The 30-year-old Real Betis player is the founder of Seed, a charity fund whose objective is to maximize the aid granted to the most underprivileged by bringing together donors and by relying on proven associations.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval