The French Football Federation will file a complaint with FIFA after witnessing the Argentina team sing a song mocking the French team’s origins, following the 2024 Copa America championship.

On July 15, midfielder Enzo Fernandez posted a video online from the Argentina team bus, as he and his teammates sang and danced their way to the airport to return to Buenos Aires. At one point, several players sang the lines: “They play for France but they are from Angola. They have Nigerian mothers, Cambodian fathers, but their passports are French.”

Midfielder Enzo Fernandez celebrates after Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in the Copa America 2024 final at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, USA on the evening of July 14, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Fernandez immediately turned off the video and deleted it, but many people had already saved it and spread it on social media. The chants were deemed racist towards the French team, which has many players from other continents. For example, captain Kylian Mbappe’s father is Cameroonian, and his mother is Algerian.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi was not on the bus that day, as he left the team to return to his home in Florida after the final. During the 2022 World Cup victory celebration, when he saw Rodrigo de Paul and some players about to sing this song, Messi stopped them.

According to AFP , the French Football Federation (FFF) believes that these chants are racist, so they will file a complaint with FIFA. The world football federation has a slogan “say no to racism”, so Lionel Scaloni’s team could be fined.

Almost two years ago at the 2022 World Cup, the FFF also complained to FIFA when a group of Argentinian fans sang a similar song to target Kylian Mbappe and his teammates. The two teams met in the final, with Argentina winning on penalties.

France and Argentina have had many conflicts since then. While receiving the “Golden Glove” award, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez placed the award in front of his sensitive area. When celebrating in the locker room, he also shouted: “Let’s take a minute of silence for Mbappe”, and his teammates responded. The FFF complained to FIFA about this case, and FIFA also announced that it would investigate, but did not issue a punishment.