"France lost, goodbye Mbappé." Senator Celeste Amarilla posted that after Spain knocked France out of the 2026 World Cup — and it's hard to separate the pettiness from the context of how this whole feud started.
Amarilla didn't just celebrate. She went full victory lap. On July 14 — Bastille Day — she posted a series of tweets mocking France's elimination, including: "Ciao France, and a 14 juillet... liberty, equality, fraternity... eliminated 😂." She also shared a repost claiming she had "psychologically destroyed the French national team and the entire French people." It's absurd, obviously. But the backstory is far uglier than the gloating.
How it started
When France beat Paraguay 1-0 in the round of 16 on July 4, Amarilla went after Mbappé on social media with language that had nothing to do with football. She called him a "colonized Cameroonian trying so hard to pretend to be French" and a "brute who had not learned to write." She also suggested Paraguay's players should have physically attacked him after the match.
Mbappé didn't ignore it. He fired back directly: "Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honour throughout the competition."
Emmanuel Macron's office formally condemned the remarks. This wasn't a social media squabble — it reached head-of-state level.
Spain did the footballing part
Spain's 2-0 win in the semifinal on July 14 was comfortable and thoroughly deserved. Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal — a foul that summed up France's night. Pedro Porro doubled it in the 58th minute and that was that.
France had Mbappé, Dembélé, Olise, and Barcola — a forward line that on paper should threaten anyone. Spain's defence made it irrelevant. Mbappé threatened late but never looked like overturning a two-goal deficit against a side that controlled the match from the opening quarter-hour.
Spain are through to the final. France are out. And a Paraguayan senator is celebrating on the internet — which tells you everything you need to know about the strange, ugly orbit this World Cup occasionally drifted into.
