Amadou Onana, a pivotal player for Belgium, stood out during the group stage of the European Championship as they finished in second place behind Romania. Despite his impressive performance, a video surfaced on Belgium’s social media platforms featuring Onana jokingly stating that he would kick France captain Kylian Mbappe when the teams meet in the knockout stages.
The footage, which was later removed, depicted comedian Pablo Andres singing a song about kicking Mbappe’s shin, to which Onana responded by saying his own name. This sparked a backlash from French fans and media, prompting an apology from the Royal Belgian Football Association.
At a news conference, Belgian media spokesman Stefan van Loock expressed regret for the video, admitting that it was intended to be humorous but was not well received. The two nations are set to face off on Monday in Dusseldorf, with tensions potentially running high due to the incident.
