Thierry Henry's Coaching Journey and Future with France

Thierry Henry has already had a taste of leading his country on home soil. At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, he took a vibrant France side all the way to a final against Spain, only to watch extra-time rip the gold from their grasp. Silver medals went around the necks of Michael Olise and his teammates. The feeling of what might have been will not have disappeared quickly.

Since hanging up his boots, Henry’s coaching journey has been anything but linear. A brief, testing spell in the dugout at Monaco, a return to MLS with Montreal Impact, and a stint alongside Roberto Martinez in the Belgium national team have all added layers to his résumé. Now 48, he has stepped back into the safer, more controlled world of punditry, weighing up his next move rather than chasing it.

He is not in a hurry. But he is not closing the door either. The right offer, the right stage, will always make him listen.

One job would tower above almost any other: France. Two of his fellow 1998 World Cup winners have already walked that path. Didier Deschamps is finally stepping away after 14 years in charge, a reign that delivered the 2018 World Cup and the UEFA Nations League, and kept France on the sharp end of every major tournament.

Into that space steps a giant. Ballon d’Or winner Zinedine Zidane is set for his first role outside Real Madrid, where his name became almost synonymous with Champions League glory. Now he inherits a national side brimming with talent: Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and a conveyor belt of gifted youngsters queuing up behind them.

The question lingers in the background. When Zidane’s time eventually ends, could Henry be next and keep the class of ’98 lineage running?

Jeremie Aliadiere, another member of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’, believes the idea is far from fanciful. Speaking to GOAL in association with ToonieBet, he did not hesitate: “Why not? I'm sure Thierry will be delighted to get the job.

“We've seen how patriotic he is and how much he loves France. We saw him during the Olympic Games in 2024 as well. He's had a great tournament there. I'm sure that'll be in the back of his mind and he will love to get the opportunity at some point.”

Aliadiere, though, knows Zidane’s aura changes the conversation. “But I think Zidane in France is something different and now we've touched the gods. Zidane will always be Zidane. So I wish and I really hope that he succeeds and everything goes well.”

The bar is already set brutally high. Deschamps did not add a second World Cup in Qatar, but he kept France locked into a cycle of semi-finals and finals that most nations can only envy. That is the standard Zidane walks into.

“Because as much as Deschamps didn't win this World Cup, he's still all the time going to semis, to finals, won in 2018,” Aliadiere said. “So you just think it's still going to be a challenge for Zidane to get over the line.

“Because the next step now really for Zidane, he has to win something. He can't just come and then do a semi-final or a quarter-finals. And we know how hard it is to win it. Only one team can. And we know with England as well. They've been in tournaments lately where they are so close but not quite there. So you just start losing patience. Hopefully Zidane can do it.”

This is the paradox Zidane inherits: he steps into a structure that looks ready-made for success, yet anything less than lifting a trophy will be framed as underachievement. France are not just contenders; they are expected to dominate.

Pressed on whether that status will endure with this generation, Aliadiere did not blink. “Yeah, 100%. I think so.

“I think as much as people might say that Didier Deschamps has only one World Cup, that is obviously more than a lot of anyone else. But you just think what he's done in terms of leading the team with such a great squad and great talent.

“Zidane's going to come in and he hasn't got a lot to do really. Everything's already set for him to succeed.”

The depth is frightening. Established stars are backed by a wave of players still waiting for their moment. Aliadiere pointed to Rayan Cherki, who struggled for minutes but could be central in two or four years, and Hugo Ekitike, sidelined by injury but firmly in the long-term picture.

“You think a player like [Rayan] Cherki who couldn't get much minutes in there, he'll be in for two years, four years. You think about [Hugo] Ekitike who was injured before it. It's like the names that you've got and the talent you've got, I think Zidane now has just got to put his little magic on it and then make it work.”

For now, the stage belongs to Zidane. Henry watches from the studio, his Olympic near-miss still fresh, his coaching story still incomplete. If Zidane succeeds, he will cement an era. If he stumbles, the pressure will be ferocious.

And somewhere down the line, when the federation looks again to its heroes of 1998, will the call finally come for Henry to swap the microphone for the dugout and test himself against the weight of a nation?