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On Friday at 9 PM, the match between France and Argentina will take place as part of the men’s football quarter-finals at the Olympics. Traditionally, Olympic football, and particularly men’s football, has never managed to garner the same attention and prestige as international tournaments like the Euros and the World Cup, partly because the national teams are composed of under-23 players (those who are 23 years old or younger), with a few exceptions, and the best players in circulation are rarely present.
However, tonight’s match has stirred a certain interest regardless of the competition, because over the past two years, a heated rivalry has developed between the two teams, which has become relevant again in recent days. The tension has been heightened by the fact that the Olympics are being hosted by France, the match will take place in Bordeaux, and there will be many French fans present.
The rivalry began after the final of the last World Cup played between the two national teams in December 2022, particularly due to a racist and transphobic chant directed at the French by Argentine fans. It became widely discussed again in mid-July when some members of the Argentine National Team sang it during the celebrations for winning the Copa América, even though France had nothing to do with the competition. The chant was documented in a video from an Instagram live stream posted by Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández, where he and other teammates were singing: “They play in France, but they all come from Angola, their mother is from Cameroon, their father is from Nigeria, but their passport says French.”
So far, Fernández has been the only player involved to apologize and speak out publicly, but only because he had broadcast the video of the chant and was seen prominently singing it. Additionally, a teammate from Chelsea, the Frenchman Wesley Fofana, had reposted the video with the caption “Football in 2024: unrestrained racism.”
Fernández’s public apology did not lessen the tensions between French and Argentine football, especially since it was not followed by official apologies from either the Argentine federation or any other institutional body in the country. On the contrary, the Argentine government even decided to dismiss the Undersecretary for Sport, Julio Garro, for asking the federation and the national team’s captain Lionel Messi to apologize for the racist chant. Overall, the Argentine federation has been heavily criticized for not taking a clear stance against that chant, both in 2022 and in recent weeks.
Since the Olympics began, the Argentine anthem has often been booed by French fans in the stands, and several French players have said they consider tonight’s match a personal affair. “What happened has affected all French people: we will see what happens in the quarter-finals,” said forward Jean-Philippe Mateta.
In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Argentina won on penalties against France after a highly contested match. Following that victory, fans began singing that chant, which contains evident racist references to the African origins of some French players, as well as a transphobic line referring to forward Kylian Mbappé in a colloquial Argentine term that has a very derogatory connotation and means “someone who likes trans people,” referring to his past relationship with transgender model Ines Rau.
After the publication of the video, the French National Team had filed a complaint against Argentina with FIFA (the International Football Federation), and an internal disciplinary procedure was initiated by Chelsea against Fernández. The FIFA investigation is still ongoing, while Fernández – who was not selected for the Olympics – has returned to training with Chelsea on Tuesday, after his public apology and after announcing that he will make a donation to organizations that combat racism and discrimination.