Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Thierry Henry stunned with his latest swipe at fellow FOX Sports pundit Alexi Lalas. The latter departed the broadcasting studio to attend Friday's World Cup clash between the U.S. and Australia.
FOX Sports holds exclusive English-language broadcasting rights for all 104 World Cup fixtures in the United States, and a stellar line-up has been brought together. Lalas, a former USMNT player, has been accompanied by Ibrahimovic, Henry, and presenter Rebecca Lowe.
Lalas has already sparked uproar by using expletives during the broadcast, but the most compelling storyline has been his uncomfortable exchanges with Ibrahimovic. Lalas was branded "ignorant" by Ibrahimovic after a discussion about the French national side. It now appears their dynamic has taken another turn.
Ibrahimovic looked thrilled that Lalas would not be amongst the panel stationed at FOX's Los Angeles studio. Lalas made the journey to Seattle to link up with Rob Stone, Clint Dempsey and Carli Lloyd for coverage of the USMNT's second World Cup fixture.
That left Henry, Ibrahimovic and Lowe in Los Angeles, and audiences were updated on Lalas' location. Lowe revealed that Lalas had "left us," and Ibrahimovic playfully responded, "America, you're welcome" which prompted Henry's jaw to drop open.
Ibrahimovic's remark did nothing to dispel the notion that he's found it difficult to forge a rapport with Lalas during the broadcast. Prior to his American colleague departing for Seattle, footage emerged of Henry and Ibrahimovic keeping a football up in the stadium, while they blanked the former USMNT star.
One of the most heated exchanges between Ibrahimovic and Lalas occurred on Tuesday following France's 3-1 victory over Senegal. After a balanced opening period in which Senegal appeared dangerous, Kylian Mbappe drove France to a commanding triumph.
Following the match, Lalas debated whether the French side had been arrogant during the opening 45 minutes. "The reality is, if they are arrogant, it's because they can do things like that," Lalas said after a stronger second-half display.
This seemed to irritate Ibrahimovic, who has strong connections to football in France after establishing himself as a legend at Paris Saint-Germain. "It's not arrogance, it's confidence. Ignorant people will say it's arrogance, intelligent people it's confidence," Ibrahimovic responded.
Co-analyst Henry then stared at the camera with widened eyes, as Lowe tried to move past the uncomfortable exchange. This followed days after the USMNT secured its opening fixture 4-1 against Paraguay, when another confrontation took place.
Ibrahimovic criticised Lalas for placing excessive pressure on the USMNT squad. Lowe was compelled to raise her finger as they started bickering while she was introducing a new segment.
FOX understood Ibrahimovic was unflinchingly candid when they recruited him and even made him undergo a lie-detector test for an entertaining feature. Embracing the storyline, Ibrahimovic was asked whether he valued his fellow analysts' views, and while he answered yes, it was established that he wasn't being honest.
The pundits responded to the footage live on air, with Ibrahimovic appearing to take another swipe at Lalas. "Rebecca, you look great. Thierry, you look sharp, Monsieur. Alexi...we can discuss," Ibrahimovic joked.
