ARLINGTON — Of the four teams left in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, France has been called offside the least — only eight times throughout the entire tournament.

So it wasn’t a surprise the team remained disciplined and didn’t get drawn out of line and into a war of words Monday, a day before France’s semifinal match against Spain at Dallas Stadium. 

Ex-Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is receiving backlash ahead of the match for stating that this French team “does not have any French players.” 

Many of France’s players are of multinational heritage, including Kylian Mbappé (Cameroon), Rayan Cherki (Algeria), Désiré Doué (Côte d’Ivoire) and Ousmane Dembélé (Senegal and Mali), but all were born in France.

Midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery, who is of Martiniquais descent and also born in France, chose not to fan any flames in a pre-match news conference Monday in Dallas. 

“Unfortunately, I have not read the comments,” Zaire-Emery said. “This French team has different players from different backgrounds and origins in and around the country. We are a united group and a united team, and that’s all that matters.”

Spain has held the upper hand in the teams’ recent history, including wins in the 2024 European Championship semifinal and the 2025 Nations League playoff. After Spain’s quarterfinal win over Belgium, Barcelona star Lamine Yamal told reporters France has reason to fear his team.

“If anyone should be afraid it should be them. We knocked them out of the Euros,” Yamal said. “Obviously we are two great teams, among the best in the world. We’ll see what happens, but we have no fear.”

Zaire-Emery again offered a subdued response Monday.

“Spain is 11 players and substitutes, and the same goes for us,” he said. “Lamine has extraordinary qualities to shoot, to dribble, to pass and everything. We also have our qualities.

“To be honest, I don’t look at what is being said. I remember this year when we played with my club [Paris Saint-Germain] against Barcelona, it was the same. … We try not to take into account these declarations.”

It should be noted that France’s lineup has changed since the Euro semifinal two years ago.

After previously playing on the left, Mbappé is playing striker instead of then-starter Kolo Muani. France has added two of the world’s best young attackers in Michael Olise and Doué to the front four as well, plus Bradley Barcola off the bench. Longtime midfielder N’Golo Kanté has made way for younger options in Kouadio Koné and Aurelien Tchouaméni. Koné started in place of Tchouaméni in the quarterfinal due to fitness concerns, but France national team manager Didier Deschamps says the Real Madrid star should be available against Spain.

“There are a lot of uncertainties,” Deschamps said Monday in Arlington. “Football is no exact science, we must prepare and anticipate, those two are important. We need to plan all the details so that we give our all before the game, and obviously the players on the pitch will do their best.”

Either way, France is keeping its focus on the pitch and isn’t biting on this war of words.

“The past is in the past,” Deschamps said. “Yes, they won the last two, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game. I do not want to diminish the importance of these two last games, but we are at another level.”