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Thierry Henry has faced criticism for his comments towards fellow presenter Kate Scott and Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal during the Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday night.
Former Arsenal and France striker Henry was co-presenting the 2026 Ballon d’Or awards show held at the Palladium Theatre in London alongside Scott.
But Henry set an awkward tone early on during the two-hour long ceremony as he teased Yamal about not winning the Ballon d’Or, before he pulled up Scott on her pronunciation of Brazil legend Socrates, whose name is used for the award to recognise the best humanitarian work carried out by a footballer.
‘We’ll also give out the Socrates Award which was,’ Scott said.
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Henry then cut her off and said: ‘What do you mean Socrates? We don’t have any philosophers here, it’s ‘Soc-ra-tes’.
Scott repeated Henry’s pronunciation and replied: ‘Excuse my pronunciation, everybody. Trust Thierry to get it right.’
Henry continued to speak over her as he said: ‘Yes, Doctor Socrates, we’re not going to debate here.’
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However, Scottish author, Andrew Downie, a Brazilian football expert who wrote the book ‘Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher, Legend’, has criticised Henry for his interaction with Scott.
‘Thierry Henry is rude and incorrect. She pronounced it properly. I know, I wrote a whole book about the man,’ Downie wrote on X.
Ballon d'Or 2026 top 10
1st: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England)
2nd: Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid and France)
3rd: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain)
4th: Rodri (Barcelona and Spain)
5th: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami and Argentina)
6th: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain and Georgia)
7th: Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
8th: Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway)
9th: Michael Olise (Bayern Munich and France)
10th: Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
Henry also put Yamal in an awkward position on stage when the Barcelona winger collected the Young Talent of the Year award for the third year in a row.
As Yamal stood on stage, Henry made a reference to the 19-year-old’s desire to win the Ballon d’Or trophy by saying: ‘It’s your third one right? But is it the one you really wanted to win?’
Yamal ended up finishing third for the 2026 Ballon d’Or with Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane winning the trophy ahead of Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe.
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