2026 FIFA WC: German international under scrutiny for racial profiling of Cote d’Ivoire Elephants

23.6.2026
Former German international Bastian Schweinsteiger came under fire following his comments that Cote d’Ivoire Elephants played “African football” against his home country during their group E 2026 World Cup tie.
The 2023 African Champions led Germany for a long period after they scored in the first half and in the second half German levelled and got the winning goal through substitute Daniz Undav who scored a brace.
Schweinsteiger who was analysing the match on Germany’s ARD said the Ivorians played “African football” which he characterized as “a bit unorthodox sometimes, a bit wild, not quite as tactical.”
Schweinsteiger’s comments prompted reactions on social media and in German mainstream media accusing him of using racist and colonial tropes which reduce Black people to supposed physical attributes rather than crediting them with intellectual ability. The former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder has yet to publicly comment on the matter.
“Behind attributions like ‘wild’ and ‘unpredictable’ are stereotypes which are older than football and which have racist, colonial roots,” explained Philipp Awounou, a Black German journalist and author, in a column for Spiegel news magazine.
“In the past, Black people of African heritage were stigmatized as uncivilized (‘wild’), different (‘unorthodox’) and potentially dangerous (‘unpredictable’).”
“These are racist stereotypes,” sports content creator Patrick Schnitzler told his 50,000 followers on Instagram, referring to recent academic studies which have revealed that commentators and fans are more likely to comment on Black footballers’ physical attributes than those of non-Black players.
“We learn such stereotypes because we have grown up in a society with stereotypes,” he said. “Schweinsteiger, too. You and I, too.”