Minute of silence before France v Spain to commemorate 2016 Nice attack

World

The France-Spain semi-final falls on the 10th anniversary of the Nice attack, which killed 86 people and injured more than 400.

14 Jul 2026 03:24AM

PARIS: A minute's silence will be observed before the World Cup semi-final between France and Spain, in tribute to the victims of the Nice attack of July 14, 2016, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday (Jul 13).

The two sides meet on Tuesday in Dallas on the tenth anniversary of the attack which saw 86 people killed and more than 400 injured when a truck driver ploughed into crowds leaving a Bastille Day fireworks display in the southern French city.

"Before France-Spain, a minute of silence will be observed in tribute to the victims of the Nice attack, ten years after July 14, 2016," Macron said in a post on X before going on to thank FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

"Thank you to the President of FIFA for responding to the request of France and of all French people who have mobilised. We will never forget."

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed the attacker, a 31-year-old radicalised Tunisian man named Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel as one of its followers, after police shot him dead at the scene.

The attack came after the country's worst-ever peacetime assaults in and around Paris on November 13, 2015, which killed 130 people.

Source: AFP/fs