Thierry Henry makes ‘revenge’ admission as he addresses brawl between France and Argentina players after win at Paris Olympics

Thierry Henry has said that France are not considering their 2024 Olympics win against Argentina as revenge for the 2022 World Cup final. La Albiceleste famously lifted the World Cup for the third time in their history after seeing off France in the final (3-3 A.E.T, 4-2 pens).

Relations between the two teams took a turn for the worse last month. After their Copa America title triumph, a number of Argentine players were filmed singing an offensive chant targeting French players. This chant, which had alleged racist undertones, apparently originated during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA launched a probe into the matter and the French football body stated that they would file a complaint against the Argentine players for their behavior. The quarterfinals at the 2024 Olympics on Friday (2 August) was the first time the two sides met after the World Cup final in Qatar.

France won the match on home territory courtesy of a fifth-minute goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta. The referee blew the final whistle after nearly 12 minutes of added time, following which the two teams — players and staff included — clashed on the sidelines.

The brawl was stopped after several seconds as France celebrated making an Olympics semifinal since 1984, when they won gold. After the match, Henry seemed to indicate that an Argentine player incited his players but said that he wasn't viewing this match as revenge.

The French U21 and Olympics team manager told TyC Sports (via @GastonEdul on X):

"We don't take this match as revenge because the World Cup was with other teams. Having scored the goal quickly gave us a decision. I apologize for the final disturbance. It's not what I wanted and I couldn't control it. In fact, they kicked out a player."

The match also featured a controversial moment in the 84th minute when Michael Olise's goal was overruled by VAR. The referee, to the surprise of many, adjudged Maghnes Akliouche to have committed a foul in the build-up despite no initial appeals from the Argentine team.

---

Argentina star Nicolas Otamendi points finger at France player for brawl

Nicolas Otamendi, who started at centre-back, and was one of Argentina's three permitted overage (23 or above) also gave his opinion on the on-field brawl. He was seemingly unhappy with how the French players celebrated their win.

Singling out French defender Loic Bade, Otamendi said in his post-match comments, via the aforementioned source:

"It makes me very angry that they went to where the relatives were to celebrate in their faces. That 'Balde', 'Bade', if he feels like celebrating, let him come to where we are and we'll solve it there. We talk about what needs to be talked about. Before becoming world champion I went through defeats and I know what it's like. The boys did well. We missed the goal."

France will now face Egypt in the semi-finals while Morocco and Spain face each other in the other last-four match for a place in the final.