{"id":966063,"date":"2026-05-17T06:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/966063\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T06:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:26:17","slug":"thierry-henry-picks-player-who-will-surprise-everyone-at-world-cup-theres-a-guy-people-dont-know-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/966063\/","title":{"rendered":"Thierry Henry picks player who will surprise everyone at World Cup \u2013 \u2018There\u2019s a guy people don\u2019t know about…\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former France international Thierry Henry has backed a little-known French midfielder to perform well after being named in Didier Deschamps\u2019 2026 World Cup squad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Deschamps, who guided Les Bleus to the 2018 World Cup<\/a>, named his 26-player squad for the upcoming tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And while star names such as D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9, Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 were included, there were several notable absences.<\/p>\n

Paris Saint-Germain forward, currently on loan at Spurs, Randal Kolo Muani was omitted, alongside Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and PSG shot-stopper Lucas Chevalier.<\/p>\n

Despite impressive seasons in the Premier League, the Bournemouth duo Adrien Truffert and Eli Junior Kroupi were also left out, but Henry<\/a> believes a little-known AS Roma midfielder could prove useful to the two-time World Cup winners this summer.<\/p>\n

Henry backs 12-cap France star<\/p>\n

Speaking to SPORTbible, Henry, who earned 123 appearances for France<\/a> between 1997 and 2010, backed Manu Kon\u00e9 to be a huge help to the side if he\u2019s allowed to play after being named in the squad.<\/p>\n

Henry said: \u201cI\u2019m not saying that he\u2019s going to have a brilliant World Cup or not have a brilliant World Cup. I don\u2019t know, but there\u2019s a guy that people don\u2019t know much about, and he plays for Roma. I had him at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Manu Kon\u00e9. He is, for me right now, one of the best holding midfielders out there. He\u2019s going about his life in a quiet way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was at M\u00f6nchengladbach. He signed for Roma. Now he\u2019s a starter for France because, obviously, Didier Deschamps believes he can play for France.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd since then, he\u2019s been brilliant. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a name people often mention, and he\u2019s a starter for France. In that team, you\u2019re going to have to be good.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s going to play at the World Cup, but so far, he\u2019s a guy I would say people in that team do not mention a lot, because you will mention Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, you will mention D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9, you will mention Barcola, you will mention Saliba, and you will mention Konat\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd people do not mention him. I do think he\u2019s a very, very, very, very solid player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ManuManu Kone has earned praise from Thierry Henry (Credit:Getty)<\/p>\n

Henry coached Kon\u00e9 during his time managing the French Olympic team that won the silver medal at the Paris Games.<\/p>\n

Since then, the 24-year-old, who came through the ranks at Toulouse before joining Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach, has been a fixture in Roma\u2019s side, featuring 36 times for the Italians this term, while also earning 12 caps for his country.<\/p>\n

The former Arsenal man then compared Kon\u00e9\u2019s style to that of Liverpool cult hero Dirk Kuyt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always helping the team,\u201d he continued. \u201cHe\u2019s just the type of guy that fans will appreciate \u2014 a real crowd favourite, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, I remember Liverpool fans loving Dirk Kuyt at one point. He wasn\u2019t the typical star player, but it was what he gave to the team that made people love him. And Manu is that type of guy. He\u2019s a player you\u2019re going to love because he gives 100% all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry picks World Cup dark horses<\/p>\n

Henry then looked ahead to the rest of the World Cup nations, tipping three dark horses to perform well in the tournament.<\/p>\n

After crediting both Senegal and Morocco for their performances at the Africa Cup of Nations, Henry said: \u201cDon\u2019t sleep on Norway,\u201d with the Scandinavian nation reaching their first finals since 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf everything clicks and they play the same way with S\u00f8rloth and Haaland, they can do well. They qualified easily, winning their group and winning at home and away against Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just do think those two teams \u2014 Senegal and Norway \u2014 with Morocco [can go far]. [They] now have expectations after the last World Cup.<\/p>\n

Of course, Morocco reached the semifinals in Qatar before eventually losing to France.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s first World Cup game is scheduled to take place against Senegal in New Jersey on June 16.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s 26-man World Cup squad<\/strong><\/p>\n

Goalkeepers:<\/strong><\/p>\n