‘The 2006 World Cup was a defining moment in my career. I’d already lost the Champions League final with Arsenal that year, then lost the World Cup final on penalties’ Thierry Henry on his painful 2006 summer

Thierry Henry lost the 2006 Champions League final with Arsenal

The ability of football to put players, supporters and anyone else connected with the sport through the emotional mixer is unrivalled in any other pursuit.

Life-affirming highs can often be followed by crushing lows, often within weeks or indeed days of each other, no matter how talented a player is.

Thierry Henry is a classic example of this, as the Frenchman’s mid-2000s pomp brought about perhaps the most emotionally complex summer of his career.

Henry on his 2006 near-misses

The climax of the 2005/06 season, which saw Arsenal preparing to say farewell to Highbury, saw the club focusing their efforts on a first-ever European Cup.

A fourth-place Premier League finish was below the standards set by the Gunners in recent seasons, but after edging past Villarreal in the Champions League semi-finals, Arsene Wenger’s side had the chance to end the season on a high when they took on Barcelona at the Stade de France.

Arsenal react to their 2006 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona

For Henry, this could have been the first step towards a memorable summer double, as his French side were one of the favourites to win the subsequent World Cup.

However, that was not to be, as Barcelona would come from behind to beat Arsenal in the Champions League final, while Les Bleus would lose the World Cup final on penalties to Italy.

For better or for worse, Henry would admit that the tournament in Germany went on to be one of the defining moments of his career.

“The big moment, for me, was obviously my goal in the quarter-final against Brazil,” Henry tells FourFourTwo. “That’s something that people always tell me they remember.

“That competition was a defining moment in my career – after already losing the Champions League final with Arsenal that year, then you go to the World Cup final and lose on penalties.

Thierry Henry on the ball for France during the 2006 World Cup final against Italy. — Henry and France lost on penalties to Italy in the 2006 World Cup final (Image credit: Getty Images)

“My World Cup memories were either outstanding moments or horrible!

“We won the World Cup at home, beat Italy in the Euro 2000 final, then went to Germany and lost on penalties against Italy in the final.”

Henry is an ambassador of the No Lay’s, No Game campaign – Lay’s are an official sponsor of the World Cup

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For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

With contributions from

Mark WhiteContent Editor