The French men’s national soccer team, featuring Kylian Mbappé, a prominent critic of far-right politics, has been traveling with a charter company implicated in the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Social media imagery and flight tracking information indicate that the French team has chartered Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) for at least three domestic flights between their World Cup matches and their base in Boston. Notably, this airline has been responsible for over fifty percent of ICE’s deportation flights in 2024 and 2025.
A comprehensive investigation in 2025 into the deportation program revealed through leaked GlobalX data how the airline facilitated the transport of thousands of detainees, often without notice, to distant locations far from their families and legal representation. This has raised significant concerns about violations of due process rights. Among the destinations served by the airline is the infamous Cecot mega-prison in El Salvador, where detainees have reported being uninformed about their travel plans and subjected to shackling.
GlobalX has not provided any comments in response to inquiries. Similarly, representatives of the French national team have not replied to multiple requests for information.
The aircraft used by the French team after their match against Paraguay has already conducted 44 deportation-related flights this year and approximately 950 since 2022. Data from ICE Flight Monitor indicates that the plane transporting the French players on July 4 had previously been employed for transferring detained migrants from an Arizona detention facility to Louisiana just days earlier.
“It’s common for certain carriers to oscillate between operating ICE flights and other private entity charter flights, including athletic teams, within a week or even on the same day,” stated Sierra Randolph, a data manager for ICE Flight Monitor.
The investigation began following a video posted on the team’s official Instagram account, which showcased players, including Michael Olise of Bayern Munich, boarding a flight from Philadelphia to Boston after their victory over Paraguay. The GlobalX logo was visible on a sticker given to a flight attendant as Olise passed by.
Analysis of flight data from Flightradar24 revealed an Airbus leaving Philadelphia International Airport shortly after midnight on July 5 and arriving at Boston Logan International Airport around 1 AM. Researchers from ICE Flight Monitor were able to correlate this flight with an aircraft they routinely monitor for immigration enforcement purposes.
The French roster boasts several players who have vocalized their political views, with Mbappé leading the charge. As a player of mixed heritage—his father hailing from Cameroon and his mother from Algeria—Mbappé has strongly criticized far-right politicians in France and has encouraged his teammates to voice their opinions. In 2024, he labeled the advances made by the far-right National Rally party as “falling into the hands of these people” urging the youth of France to prevent the nation from “falling into the hands of these people.”
Other teammates have echoed his sentiments. Ousmane Dembélé and Jules Koundé have both called for increased voter participation among French citizens, as has Marcus Thuram, whose father, the World Cup champion Lilian Thuram, has a long history of activism. Even Zinedine Zidane, widely recognized as one of football’s greatest, has criticized the National Rally’s presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, vocally during the 2017 election.
This week, Mbappé drew attention when he responded to a Paraguayan senator, branding her a “despicable woman” following her racist remarks directed at him.
Members of the National Rally have reacted dismissively to criticisms from the French national team, adopting a
