A pre-World Cup friendly in Spain was marred by racist and anti-Muslim chants by home fans.
Published April 1, 2026
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and coach Luis de la Fuente have condemned the anti-Muslim chants that marred Barcelona’s 0-0 draw with Egypt in a pre-World Cup friendly.
There were jeers for the Egyptian national anthem before Tuesday’s game, and the RCDE Stadium’s announcement system repeatedly urged fans to refrain from offensive comments.
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This is the latest in a series of similar incidents that have cast a shadow over Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid’s Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior in particular suffering repeated racial abuse.
“What we have done is to condemn this kind of attitude and to ensure that it does not repeat itself,” said RFEF President Rafael Lousan.
He called them “special and isolated circumstances.”
Mr de la Fuente also condemned the actions of some in the 35,000-strong crowd.
“It’s intolerable,” he told reporters shortly after sitting in the media room.
“Violent people use football to carve out a space for themselves.
“They must be excluded from society, identified and kept as far away as possible,” the 64-year-old added.
Due to the war in the Middle East, the match between Qatar and Catalonia was held in a hostile environment from the start.
The European champions were fruitless in attack in their penultimate friendly on home soil before facing Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H in North America in June and July this year.
Spain is reportedly scheduled to face Iraq on June 4, before playing Peru in Mexico four days later in their final match before the World Cup.
Veteran coach de la Fuente made 10 changes from Friday’s 3-0 friendly win against Serbia, with Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal the only player to retain his spot.
Egypt were without talisman Mohamed Salah, who has been without Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah since he suffered a muscular problem against Galatasaray on March 18.
The English club are hopeful of a possible return for this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City.
The hosts made the most of their early chances, but Ferran Torres was unlucky not to score after 20 minutes.
Just 30 minutes into the game, Egypt’s Manchester City attacker Omar Marmouche hit the post, underscoring the team’s World Cup potential as they face Belgium, Iran and New Zealand in Group G.
After the break, the hosts regained control, with Pedri’s shot failing in the 57th minute and Cristian Mosquera’s header going wide 13 minutes later.
With six minutes remaining, Egypt were reduced to 10 men after defensive midfielder Hamdi Fathy was shown a second yellow card.
Two minutes later, De La Fuente’s side wasted another chance when left-back Alejandro Grimaldo hit the crossbar with his last chance to break the deadlock.
