Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show” has drawn the ire of France’s ambassador to the US after saying jokingly that “Africa has won the World Cup.”

Earlier this week, in reacting to France winning the World Cup, Trevor Noah praised “Africa” for this victory, referring to the immigrant heritage of many of the French squad’s players .

However, the joke has triggered controversy and outrage in France, with some social media users accusing the host of America’s The Daily Show of racism.

The French ambassador to the US said the comedian was denying their “Frenchness” by calling them African.

But Noah fired back, defending his original joke and arguing that Araud was actually erasing the identity of his nation’s players.

“When I am saying, ‘They are African’, I am not saying it as a way to exclude them from their Frenchness, but using it as a way to include them in my Africanness.”

Of the 23 players in the young French team, more than half are of African or Arab descent, an irony that led international media outlets to describe the French victory as ‘a victory for immigrants’.