PARIS -- Trevor Noah, the South African host of a popular
U.S. TV show, sparred with the French ambassador in
Washington after the comedian joked that Africa, not
France, won the World Cup.

The victory of a multicultural French team against Croatia in
Sunday's final in Moscow has reverberated across the
globe, being celebrated in France and other places as a
triumph for diversity, while it has fanned racist abuse in
some corners.

"Africa won the World Cup," Noah, host of The Daily Show,
said in a segment on the late-night television programme
this week.
"I get it, they have to say it's the French team. But look at
those guys. You don't get that tan by hanging out in the
south of France, my friends."

Fifteen of the 23-man French World Cup squad have family
origins in Africa ranging from Cameroon to Congo and Mali,
although only two of them were born in Africa and moved to
France when they were still toddlers.

Noah's comment provoked angry comments in France --
where far-right politicians have long criticised the national
team for having too many black players -- and a rebuke
from the French ambassador to the United States, Gerard
Araud.

"By calling them an African team, it seems you are denying
their Frenchness. This, even in jest, legitimizes the ideology
which claims whiteness as the only definition of being
French," Araud wrote in a letter posted on the French
embassy's Twitter account.

On Wednesday night, Noah fired back at the diplomat.
"When I'm saying 'African' I'm not saying it to exclude them
from their Frenchness, I'm saying it to include them in my
African-ness," he said, after reading the letter on the show.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama had a different take
on the French World Cup victory, saying during a tribute to
South Africa's Nelson Mandela that embracing diversity
delivered "practical benefits."

"And if you doubt that, just ask the French football team
that just won the World Cup. Because not all of those folks
look like Gauls to me. But they're French, they're French,"
he added.