Thierry Henry exclusive: Kylian Mbappe gave caviar to people all the time - now he's getting destroyed

Speaking exclusively to GOAL, in association with Lay's, Henry claimed Mbappe has been judged unfairly for most of his career because of the high standards people set him when he was young.

Henry said: "For me, I'm not even thinking about the Ballon d'Or, that comes with what you do. I'm just thinking, this is a guy that started with… he's only played two World Cups and went to two finals. He scored in two, he won one, lost one. Not a lot of people can say that. Not a lot of people have done that.

"But unfortunately for Kylian, you find yourself in a situation when you give caviar to people all the time, and just one day out of the year that you don't, boy you are you going to get murdered. It's crazy, but that's how it is. That's a level of where he is.

"Sometimes he gets judged on what he is not doing or what he didn't do yet. And people kind of brush [over] what he has done, which I'm like, 'OK, I get it, I'm not saying he gets a pass, but can we be fair sometimes?' There's so much expectation on this guy since he's 16, and he has almost always delivered. With the way he's been behaving, and look at the stats, if you look at the trophies, if you look at the numbers, they ain't bad.

"But, like I said, one day you don't bring the caviar for your host, they will complain. That's just how it is, and the player that he is, I think in a way, he has to just embrace that. That tells you that you are an outstanding player, because if not, they wouldn't be talking about you. But all I know is, this guy played two World Cups only, and went to two finals. I mean, if he goes to a third one, it's not even the history of France here, you're talking about the history of the World Cup."

Mbappe has the chance to level Cafu's record of playing in three World Cup finals, but the France team he's playing with now is very different to the one he won the tournament with in 2018. Henry believes Les Bleus' strength in depth will help them, though he stopped short of naming who he would pick as his starters.

"Well, that's going to have to be the job of Didier Deschamps, in all fairness!" he replied when asked who he would like to see play. "We are fortunate in France to have a lot of choices, but not only up front. You think in midfield, you think at the back, goalkeepers, whatever it is, we've been blessed in that way.

"I don't know how we're going to play. People are going to talk about Mbappe. You have a guy like [Hugo] Ekitike right now that is putting his name on the map. Six months ago, no one would have said that Ekitike might go or will go to the World Cup. That's up to Deschamps. And now people are like, 'Oh my God, France' again. So, like I said, I don't like so much to go into details of who should go, should not go, or what's going to happen.

"I know we do have [options], you can't hide behind that. We do have choices. We have a good squad, but the squad can only be some amount of players. You're going to have to leave some good players behind. That's the quality of France. All I want, I'll be honest with you, is for us to perform and being able to play another final and make sure that we can win it. But that's a hope, that's a wish. I want that for my ex-teammates and for my country. That's for sure."

Henry believes that France face stiff competition if they are to become world champions for a third time, with Thomas Tuchel's England among the contenders to go all the way in North America. Mbappe's France knocked out the Three Lions at the quarter-final stage on their way to the 2022 final.

"Look, you can never be too confident. The only thing that gives you some type of positivity is that we went to the last two finals. And if you make it go further, the last seven World Cups, we went to four finals," Henry continued. "So, yeah, but how can you not think about England now? How can you not think about people who always put Germany on the side, or think that Brazil might make a comeback, you know? I mean, Italy needs to qualify still, but how can you not think that? Portugal or Argentina as the world champions, you know? So, I'm French, I always going to hope that we can have a good World Cup, but it's going to be tough. It's always tough. It's very difficult to tell.

"Since Tuchel has taken the team, it seems like it's been a different Harry Kane than we saw at the Euros. So maybe he had a lot of games in his legs at the Euros. I've been there, I always say to people you don't prepare for tournaments, you play them. Because some of those guys sometimes arrive on their knees because of the long season that they played.

"But look, you have to give that team, and also [Gareth] Southgate, a lot of credit for what he did build, because it's not the coach anymore. We all know that it's Tuchel, and I'm a big fan of Tuchel, but I'm just saying that, two finals, a semi-final before, quarter-final against France. You're there or there abouts, so now you need to find a way to cross that line, which is a line, as you know, in England, that people have been waiting for a lot of players and teams to cross that line since 1966. It's not an easy one to cross. If you look at the history of teams that didn't win it, of great players that didn't win it, it just doesn't happen like that. You look at the teams that have won it, you don't have a lot of teams that have won it. You look at the names, more often than not, they're the same names. Spain came recently to put their name there, but if you cut the names of the team that wins it, you often go back almost to the same one, so you know it's not an easy one.

"I live in London, I live in England. I was with Bukayo [Saka] the other day, and I have to say, I wish him all the best, obviously not against France because that goes without saying, that's the norm obviously. But I'm just thinking that team is very close to doing it.

"But there's Portugal and a lot of teams, also. If you understand what I mean. Sometimes being there, having the World Cup and doing it, you need that tiny bit of luck. You need everyone to arrive fit. You need to not lose players along the way. You need to have some time, a guy that's going to arrive in front of you and miss a sitter. There's so many things that we can talk about that needs to come together for you to win it. So, like I said, that's all I can wish to some of the guys, because it would be brilliant for you guys, but I'm thinking the same thing for my country, but I do think that they have the capacity to win it. Obviously, they are amongst the favourites for a reason, and if you look at the record of England recently in tournaments, they are there or there abouts. Now it's about crossing the line."

Henry was speaking to GOAL in association with Lay's, looking ahead to the World Cup. Having previously been involved in other Lay's campaigns, such as last year's successful 'No Lay's, No Game' initiative, the enigmatic Frenchman is back alongside Lionel Messi, Sir David Beckham, Alexia Putellas and Steve Carell with the chance for fans to access their exclusive WhatsApp group chat. They have also unveiled the 'Fan of the Match' plan, with 104 lucky supporters - one for each game at the tournament - being afforded the chance to receive exclusive pitch-side access, premium match tickets, half-time stadium recognition on the jumbotron, and their own Lay's Fan of the Match trophy.

"We're getting closer to the fans once more," Henry beamed. "[In past years] it was us going to, or me, shall I say, going to knock on people's door, to going to the stadium [for 'No Lay's, No Game']. So this year with a WhatsApp group and the Fan of the Match, [fans can] get a trophy, premium tickets, coming after the game. That's going to be amazing. When I was young, I wish I would have had that opportunity to get a chance to be in this type of situation as a fan. I think it's just a dream, really."

So what can we expect to see from Henry in this WhatsApp chat? "Well, I can't tell you everything! I can't spoil it. For sure, you will see me doing my smirk, that's for sure," he admitted.

"The [important] thing is that to have to access to it, I think that's the beauty of it. I can't go into details, because if not, it's not going to be a surprise for everyone there, but the most important thing is to feel connected really with everyone, and have that 'banter'. You will see that it's going to be some funny stuff once again.

"I am [excited], I'll be honest with you. You know, this is my fourth one [with Lay's]. And after the first one, when I'd been told that I was supposed to go to people's places and knock on the door, I was kind of like, really? And then, you know what? It was outstanding, the reaction of people opening the door, not thinking that it's me, trying to tell me stories to make me stay if they don't have any Lay's. Like, a guy came with a potato one time and he said, 'can I cook some for you?', like, what are you talking about? No Lay's, no game! I can't stay.

"But that reaction of them and the interaction, that was brilliant. Because I keep on saying in my time [as a player], that's when you went from before I arrived at Arsenal with the players going to drink at the pub with the fans, to stopping that, so my generation didn't have that. To now, players talking with fans on Instagram, directly responding to fans. So, I skipped that. So, for me, it was nice to add that little connection, going to people's houses, and as you're going to see me having some banter with the fans which is cool."

Lay's is granting fans access into the most legendary WhatsApp group chat ever where stars Alexia Putellas, Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Steve Carell and Thierry Henry are planning the ultimate FIFA World Cup 2026™ Epic Watch Party. Click here for more details.