Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal and France legend, made a surprise visit to the Les Bleus locker room following France's 2-0 victory over Morocco in the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinals on Thursday. The win secured France's place in the semifinals, where they will face either Belgium or Spain on July 14.
Henry's Surprise Visit and Praise
In a video posted on X by the French men's football team, Henry was seen hugging captain Kylian Mbappe and greeting players Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola. The French team captioned the post: "Thierry Henry paid a little surprise visit to the Bleus in the locker room."
Henry praised France's performance, emphasizing their ability to win back possession and maintain pressure in the opponent's half. "In possession, extraordinary as usual. But what impresses me most is the capacity the team has to recover the ball. What the team does out of possession is extraordinary. We already know what the team can do in possession, but it's this capacity to be able to keep the ball in the opponent's half and continue to suffocate the team," he said.
Congratulatory Words and Caution
Henry also congratulated coach Didier Deschamps, the team, and their supporters. "Well done Dede (Didier Deschamps), well done to the team. The supporters too because I was watching on TV and seeing this enthusiasm was really extraordinary. So there you go, long may it last."
However, Henry stressed that the job was not finished. "But hey, we're only in the semi-final. So it's not finished. There. It's beautiful, mind you, but we're only in the semi-final, it's about going further," he added.
Match Highlights and Mbappe's Milestones
In the quarterfinal clash, Mbappe opened the scoring in the 60th minute, and Dembele later extended France's lead to seal a 2-0 win. Mbappe's goal was his eighth of the 2026 World Cup, tying him with Argentina's Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race.
Mbappe also became the youngest player to reach 20 FIFA World Cup appearances and the fastest to score 20 goals in the tournament's history. His overall tally across the 2018, 2022, and 2026 editions now stands at 20 goals, leaving him just one goal behind Messi's all-time World Cup scoring record of 21.
According to OptaJoe, Mbappe has scored the winning goal in eight FIFA World Cup matches, the outright most of any player in history. Additionally, he became the first player in France's history to be directly involved in 100 international goals, with 64 goals and 36 assists for Les Bleus.
