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Athletic Bilbao fans boo World Cup winners Williams, Laporte, and Simón
🇬🇷 Greece /Sports

Athletic Bilbao fans boo World Cup winners Williams, Laporte, and Simón

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Athletic Bilbao fans booed their own World Cup-winning players Nico Williams, Aymeric Laporte, and Unai Simón during a trophy presentation.
  • The jeers stemmed from anti-Spanish and autonomist sentiments prevalent in the Basque Country.
  • The incident occurred at the San Mamés stadium before a match between Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla.

A wave of discontent swept through San Mamés stadium as a segment of Athletic Bilbao fans directed intense jeers at their own team's players. Nico Williams, Aymeric Laporte, and Unai Simón, fresh off their 2026 World Cup victory with the Spanish national team, were met with whistles and boos instead of applause when they took to the field to present their trophy.

The backlash was fueled by strong anti-Spanish and autonomist sentiments within the Basque Country. The presentation of the World Cup trophy at San Mamés ignited significant reactions, highlighting the deep-seated regional identity politics at play.

This incident underscores the complex relationship between national sporting success and regional identities in Spain. While the players achieved international glory, their celebration on home soil was overshadowed by local political undercurrents, revealing a tension between national pride and regional aspirations.

Whistles and boos ring out at San Mamés as Spain’s World Cup winners are honoured before Athletic vs Sevilla, Basque identity groups had urged fans to use the moment to demand recognition of an official Basque team

— 90 PlusSocial media post reporting on the incident
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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