Thierry Henry on Growing Soccer in the U.S. and His UEFA Predictions

Thierry Henry knows a thing or two about the soccer fandom.

The former 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA 2000 champion tells us that the sport reflects “societal connection.” Sure, it’s great to be great and collect some wins along the way, but the wider fanbase and community the sport offers is what makes soccer so special.

This year, Thierry is part of a campaign with Lay’s that directly connects players with fans. Thierry and Alexia Putellas–two-time UEFA Women’s Player of the Year, Ballon d’Or Feminin, and FIFA Women’s Best Player–surprised fans on a “Lay’s Crawl,” which involved visiting multiple pubs in Barcelona and asking fans one question: “Do you have Lay’s?”.

If the answer was yes, the FC Barcelona icons stayed to watch part of the UCL game with fans before moving on to the next bar.

Not to be missed: The hilarious moment when a bartender tries to pass off a generic chip as Lay’s, and Thierry immediately clocks the deception with one bite.

Thierry hopped on a call with Complex to chat about the soccer fandom, the key to making the sport grow in the U.S., and some teams to look out for in the upcoming UEFA Championship (no dark horses, unfortunately). Plus, the one team he loves that should go without saying.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How would you describe the soccer fandom?

Football—the game—is a reflection of societal connection. We saw it when COVID happened: we played in empty stadiums, and fans couldn’t share a moment with their friends at the stadium, or the pub, or wherever. If you don’t have fans or play without that atmosphere, it’s hard.

So it's bigger than just the player; the sport [and its fandom] is about the community.

Right. We’re all in it together.

How do you think soccer will grow in the next couple of years?

I'd like to see sports as being global. Obviously, it's going to be tough for soccer to overtake college football or basketball in the U.S. because [those sports] have a historical legacy, but you can see with the United States’ diversity, there are communities that have that same historical legacy with soccer and are helping it grow in the states. And, of course, the World Cup is coming to the U.S. in 2026, which helps.

In the context of the U.S., especially with college, we’re seeing growth in opportunities across all NCAA sports. What would you pinpoint as something that’s integral to grow soccer from a foundational level, from childhood to the college level and beyond?

If you want to grow something, you have to concentrate on grassroots efforts. Ultimately, in any scenario, the goal is having a good national team. How that happens is developing local players from a young age, to then eventually play for the national team and perform at the highest level. So concentrating on grassroots efforts from the ground up and having different paths in terms of how you're going to make youngsters choose soccer instead of football, or soccer instead of basketball, or whatever sport, is key.

Totally.

At the end of the day, it really comes down to that: how do you make a young player fall in love with the game? I think it can be done—I’ve said it many times, if [the U.S.] wanted to really concentrate on growing the game, and with the amount of people it has in the country, it would be tough to compete against you guys.

And arguably, you have been a big part of the sport’s growth here in the United States.

I definitely do think that the game has grown over the years. I went into the MLS to try to help the game grow—along with efforts from everybody within the MLS, not only mine. Now, you see teams with their own stadiums, fans turning up to games, people are getting more interested in watching; there’s more noise around the game. But at the end of the day, we have to remember the impact that the next generation of players can make on the game if we focus on the grassroots level. Very important.

Love it. I’ve got one more question for you. We're in the heart of the Champions League season. Do you have any front-runner teams on your radar to take it all?

Look, at the end of the day, we always talk about the Champions League, and it's always the same teams in the semi-final or final.

*laughs*

No, it's true. I'm not trying to duck any answers. It's just the same thing. Yeah, Borussia Dortmund surprised us last year and Inter Milan a bit before, but at the end of the day, Madrid still won it, you know what I mean?

Fair.

You look at the names recently of teams that win the Champions League, it's virtually almost the same. And so hopefully, someone can surprise us and go all the way this year. If not, I'm going to mention the same teams: Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City...

True. It also depends on the matchups and there’s a lot that goes into winning a Champions League title. Same teams or not, are there any that fans who are newer to the sport should keep an eye on?

I like the look of Inter Milan; Bayern also looks good this year. And how can you not talk about Real Madrid? I mean, that's their competition. Barcelona looks good too. The typical favorites, but for good reason. Oh, and Liverpool also. Let's not forget about Liverpool.

Sweet!

Of course. And that’s without saying I'm an Arsenal fan. But you already know that.

*laughs* We got you.