Brazil’s National Human Rights Council calls on the United Nations and FIFA to step up efforts against racism during the 2026 World Cup. In a statement reported by AFP, the council cites racist slurs and hate speech directed at players, including remarks targeting French forward Kylian Mbappé. It also points to racist commentary involving politicians and other public figures, and references hostility toward Black players on the Netherlands team after penalty shootout misses against Morocco.
The council describes what it calls “a transnational pattern of structural racism, racial discrimination and hate speech” seen throughout the tournament. It urges UN and FIFA involvement to ensure that tournament hosts—the United States, Mexico and Canada—investigate and follow up on reported racist incidents. Council president Ivana Leal says FIFA monitoring data shows that, out of more than six million social media posts reviewed, about 89,000 include abusive content, including thousands of racist posts, which is more than 13 times the level recorded during the 2022 tournament.
The World Cup ends with Sunday’s final between Spain and Argentina, according to the reports.
