France coach Didier Deschamps confirmed that star player Kylian Mbappé is handling the situation well after a Paraguayan senator directed racist remarks toward him following France's Round of 16 victory. Deschamps emphasized Mbappé's mental and physical strength, stating he is focused on the upcoming World Cup quarterfinal.
"Kylian is OK," Deschamps said during a press conference. "Whatever happened, I don’t want to look back and think about it. He’s a very strong guy mentally and physically. He’s focused on tomorrow’s game. Kylian is feeling OK, just like the rest of the group."
Mbappé, 27, had previously denounced the senator, Celeste Amarilla of Paraguay’s Liberal Radical Party, as a "despicable woman and unworthy of your position" on social media platform X. He accused her of spreading "recklessness and brazen racism" and negatively representing her country.
In response, Amarilla reportedly threatened legal action for gender-based violence if Mbappé did not apologize. Meanwhile, Paris prosecutors have initiated an investigation into Amarilla for potential aggravated public assault and incitement to hatred or violence. The Paraguayan government has issued a statement deploring and rejecting Amarilla's comments, and the French Football Federation has labeled her words as "criminal and reprehensible."
In other team news, Deschamps was uncertain about midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni's availability for the match against Morocco, noting he was "doing better" but awaiting a final decision. Tchouaméni missed the previous game due to a groin tear.
The team also had an unsuccessful appeal regarding a yellow card issued to Michael Olise, which occurred after Folarin Balogun's red card suspension was controversially overturned.
Separately, England's Jordan Henderson posted on Instagram that he underwent surgery for a broken arm sustained while celebrating his team's win over Mexico.