Arsenal football legend Thierry Henry has set the record straight after people reacted to a viral video from the 2026 FIFA World Cup opening match. He said he has nothing but "mad respect" and love for Nigeria.
The issue started during the tournament opener when popular American streamer IShowSpeed met football stars Zlatan Ibrahimović and Thierry Henry. A video went viral showing them questioning Speed’s choice to wear a United States national team jersey with Nigerian national team shorts.
When Ibrahimović saw the mixed outfit, he said, "You have an American shirt, you have Nigerian shorts." Henry then added, "I love Nigeria, but today is US for you."
When IShowSpeed asked what was wrong with mixing Nigeria and America, Henry explained that mixing uniforms can bring bad luck in sports. "It is great. Nigeria is great," he 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."
After some misunderstandings online, where people thought he meant Nigeria itself was "bad luck," Henry took to his Instagram story on Saturday. He wanted to make it clear that he has a deep fondness for Nigeria and its huge Arsenal fanbase.
"I need to clarify something because I don’t think people understand when you say stuff sometimes or when a joke is a joke," Henry explained in the video.
"So IShowSpeed yesterday had shorts of Nigeria and the top of the US, and so 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 having a little joke with him, saying that it will be bad luck; not Nigeria is bad luck, but to break the set is bad luck."
"And I even said I love, I love Naija, and by the way, I do. I have mad respect for Nigeria and the people there, a lot of Arsenal fans out there. Nigeria is never bad luck, I was just saying breaking the set is bad luck with any other short."
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