Samuel L Jackson sparked outrage on Sunday night by accusing Argentina of being ‘historically racist’ after the World Cup final.
In the wake of Argentina’s 1-0 extra-time loss to Spain, the actor reshared a post from SEC Black Alumni Network onto his Instagram story, which had urged black soccer fans to not support the South American country in the buildup to the final.
Alongside an AI-generated photo of what appears to be his character from the 2012 movie Django Unchained in an Argentina jersey, the post reads: ‘Dear Black People… Please do not cheer or root for Argentina to win the FIFA World Cup.
‘Argentina has historically been one of, if not the most racist countries in the world.
‘”If you are a Black person cheering for Argentina, this is what you look like to me.” We hear you loud and clear.’
Jackson’s character in Django Unchained, Stephen, was the embodiment of the ‘Uncle Tom’ stereotype – an offensive term used to describe a black person who is eager to win the approval of white people.
Samuel L Jackson sparked outrage after accusing Argentina of being ‘historically racist’
The actor shared this post on his Instagram story hours after the World Cup final
The American movie icon ignited controversy online by resharing the post hours after the final, with several Argentinians taking to X to hit out at the 77-year-old.
‘It’s outrageous what this dumb*** @SamuelLJackson is saying,’ one user commented.
They then added in a dig towards America: ‘Someone should tell him that in Argentina, racial segregation never existed. We’ve always taken the same buses, gone to the same schools, and walked the same streets. They’re too f***ing ignorant’.
‘How ugly, that a person like Samuel L Jackson has fallen into this anti-Argentina propaganda; sometimes it’s inexplicable how the power of the media makes the ideas of a country as beautiful as Argentina change,’ said another.
A third wrote: ‘I went to check if it was true and it seems like a scandal to me that Samuel Jackson has gotten on board with this.’
While a fourth put: ‘What’s wrong with Samuel Jackson? He never visited Argentina and evidently doesn’t know much about history to say this atrocity.’
Argentina fans have been investigated for racism at this summer’s World Cup, with FIFA forced to launch a probe into an incident involving a YouTuber earlier this month.
IShowSpeed, who has more than 50 million YouTube subscribers, was live-streaming their last-32 game against Cape Verde when the alleged racism occurred.
Argentina and Lionel Messi suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 extra-time loss to Spain in the final
‘FIFA strongly condemns racism, hate and discrimination in all forms,’ FIFA said in a statement about the incident. ‘These actions have no place in football, at the FIFA World Cup, or anywhere in society.
‘FIFA was made aware of an incident involving a supporter and IShowSpeed at Miami Stadium during the Argentina vs Cape Verde match on July 3, 2026 and immediately initiated an investigation.’
Away from soccer, England rugby stars also threatened to walk off the pitch if their players were targeted with more racist abuse in Argentina at the weekend, one year after two of their players were subjected to discrimination in San Juan.
Argentina suffered heartbreak in Sunday’s World Cup final, with Ferran Torres firing home the winner for Spain in the 106th minute.
Enzo Fernandez was sent off for the defending world champions, who failed to register a shot on target across the entire 120 minutes.
