Thierry Henry issues statement after offending Nigeria fans during World Cup stream

Thierry Henry has taken to social media to clarify his comments about Nigeria during iShowSpeed's live stream of Saturday's World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay.

The former Arsenal and Barcelona striker is working for American broadcaster FOX Sports at this summer's tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.

So far, he has been joined in the studio by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and former USA international Alexi Lalas, who made headlines this week after firing an insult at British comedian James Corden while live on air.

Henry has also landed himself in hot water over the past 24 hours, after he was accused of offending Nigerian football fans during iShowSpeed's live stream on YouTube.

As you can see in the footage below, Speed turned up to the USA's opener against Paraguay wearing the United States home jersey and a pair of the Nigerian national team's shorts.

It was an outfit choice that baffled Henry. "I love Nigeria, but today is US for you," he laughed.

Speed, real name Darren Watkins, asked what was wrong with his outfit before Henry explained that mixing and matching kits is often regarded as bad luck in sport.

"It is great. Nigeria is great," Henry said. "But that’s you bringing bad luck. You have to wear a full combo. There’s nothing wrong; I love Nigeria, but you have to wear US shorts and US shirt."

Hearing Thierry Henry describe Nigeria as “bad luck” hits differently… and honestly, it doesn’t sit well at all 🇳🇬💔

Who is the cause of our problem? pic.twitter.com/VsjAxwruW0

— Jeremiah Robert 🌍 (@jeremiahrmg) June 13, 2026

Henry received some backlash regarding his "bad luck" comment. In fact, he took to Instagram after the game to explain what he meant.

"I need to clarify something because I don’t think people understand when you say stuff sometimes or when a joke is a joke," he said on his Instagram story.

"So IShowSpeed yesterday had Nigerian shorts and a US top, and I just said to him it is bad luck to break the set.

"It could have been the shorts of France, Italy or Spain — I would have said the same thing. I was just joking with him, saying it would be bad luck; not that Nigeria is bad luck, but that breaking the set is bad luck.

"I even said I love Naija, and I do. I have mad respect for Nigeria and the people there."

"There are a lot of Arsenal fans out there," he added. "Nigeria is never bad luck. I was just saying breaking the set is bad luck with any other shorts."