2026 World Cup: Shame on Didier Deschamps—Harsh Words

The match between France and Paraguay was certainly not one of the calmest games of this World Cup—quite the opposite, in fact. Tensions on the field were extremely high, and right from the opening minutes, we witnessed numerous altercations and arguments, often involving Kylian Mbappé. Things got even worse when the referee, after consulting the VAR, awarded a penalty to the French, which ultimately decided the match.

After the game, Didier Deschamps complained of serious insults from some of the Paraguayan players: “I won’t criticize the referee for his decisions, but we finished the match with three yellow cards, even though I saw many things I didn’t like. I won’t criticize Paraguay either, because every team plays to the best of its ability and sets up the game in the way it believes is best for itself. I could have done without the insults, though. Especially some of them…”.

Several people at the stadium heard insults directed at Deschamps’s mother, who recently passed away, but Paraguay’s head coach, Gustavo Alfaro, rejected the accusations: “Absolutely not, I didn’t hear anything like that, and I don’t think it happened because I know my staff, and we don’t stoop to that kind of low behavior. Soccer isn’t war. If I had heard something like that, I would have spoken out against it.”

On social media, however, insults directed at Didier Deschamps and his late mother by some so-called fans are clearly visible—extremely harsh words that have nothing to do with soccer or the spirit of the World Cup, and against which the relevant authorities will certainly take the most appropriate measures.