Thierry Henry steps down from coaching position with France's youth team

PARIS – Thierry Henry has made the decision to resign from his position as head coach of the France Under-21 football team, as confirmed by the French Football Federation (FFF) on August 19th.

The 47-year-old former France international made the decision after guiding the Under-23 side to a silver medal at the recently concluded 2024 Paris Olympics, losing to Spain in the final.

The all-time leading scorer for English Premier League giants Arsenal with 228 goals took over as coach of the French youth side last summer and was under contract until June 2025.

But he has decided to step away for “personal reasons”, according to the FFF.

Henry will bow out with pride after he oversaw Les Bleuets’ first run to the final of an Olympics men’s tournament since winning gold in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

His young side eventually went down 5-3 after extra time against Spain to end a promising run that had started inauspiciously, after Henry was obliged to make several changes to his squad pre-tournament due to the refusal of certain clubs to release their players – notably Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe – for the Games.

“I would like to thank the FFF and president Philippe Diallo for giving me this incredible opportunity,” Henry, who has previous coaching stints with Monaco and the Montreal Impact and was also an assistant for the Belgium national side, said in an FFF statement.

“Winning an Olympic silver medal for my country will remain one of the proudest moments of my life. I’m incredibly grateful to the federation, the players, the staff and the fans for giving me this magical experience.”

Federation boss Diallo thanked the 1998 World Cup winner for “all the work he accomplished as coach of the Espoirs (Under-21s) and Olympic sides”.

“We obviously regret this decision, as Thierry Henry was able to achieve the objectives set for him by winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Paris,” he added.

“Having followed him throughout this campaign, I witnessed first-hand his great professionalism, his rigour and his love for the blue jersey.”

Henry had won four of his six matches in charge of the Under-21 side, while also clinching eight victories in 11 games coaching the Olympic team.

At the Games, the home side finished top of their group with wins over the United States, Guinea and New Zealand. They proceeded to beat Argentina and Egypt in the knockout stages before losing to Spain in the final.

Regardless of how his team fared at the Olympics, Henry was already a legend in French football alongside the likes of Zinedine Zidane and current France senior team coach Didier Deschamps.

He won 123 caps for his country, scoring 51 times and winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. AFP