The simmering tension between Fox’s star-studded World Cup panel will not go away, an insider has revealed, as the bombastic all-American Alexi Lalas continues to feud with European superstars Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
For all of the exciting action on the pitch at the World Cup, the hostility between the trio has become must-see TV and, sometimes, even more entertaining than the games themselves.
Marshaled by anchor Rebecca Lowe, there have been some venomous jabs across the desk, relief at days off from each other and a brutal exposure of the gulf in ability between Lalas and his new colleagues.
Lalas, 56, rose to prominence in the sport in the United States as part of the national team during the 1994 World Cup on home soil. The pro-Trump defender has since covered multiple international tournaments for Fox with his signature style of all-action patriotism.
But his antics are quite the contrast to the relaxed and laid back style of Henry and Ibrahimovic, two of the sport’s greatest forwards who played with Lionel Messi at his peak and have won titles and accolades Lalas can only dream of.
A source has now revealed to the Daily Mail just how tense the set of Fox’s Los Angeles-based studio is – and why a truce is unlikely.
Alexi Lalas (right) has clashed with Thierry Henry (second left) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (second right)
Pro-Trump Lalas played for the USA at the 1994 World Cup and is a longtime Fox analyst
‘They all show up, do their jobs, and head out when the work is done,’ the insider said.
‘When they’re together off camera or during commercial breaks, conversation is usually limited to a little small talk, if that. More often than not, they’re buried in their notes or glued to their phones, scrolling through messages instead of interacting with one another.
‘Zlatan and Alexi definitely don’t click. Zlatan gets under Alexi’s skin, and Alexi isn’t exactly a fan of his, but he’ll keep things professional and do what needs to be done.
‘They’ll all get through it, but the tension isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. At the same time, everyone has started to lean into the friction because, whether they like it or not, it makes for pretty entertaining TV.’
The source continued: ‘Imagine being stuck in a room with your ex and the person they left you for. That’s pretty much the vibe whenever they’re all together. There’s an underlying tension that everyone can feel, making things awkward and uncomfortable no matter how hard they try to keep it professional.
‘Zlatan is the oil in the water of it all, where everyone else is trying to get through it.
‘But it seems Zlatan has a vendetta to have it be known that he is right when he makes his points and that he is the best in the room. It goes further than competition for him and he doesn’t really care if the rest doesn’t like him or not for it.’
Henry and Ibrahimovic witnessed Lalas’ outspoken nature first-hand on just day two of the tournament when he directed a slur at British TV host James Corden on live television.
Lalas (top, third left) is an icon of the US men’s national team and played 96 times for his nation
Henry and Ibrahimovic played with Lionel Messi and won many times during their illustrious careers
During the build-up to the game between Canada and Bosnia, Lowe steered the crew towards a promo for Corden’s new late-night World Cup show, After Hours.
‘Can we talk about James Corden for a second?’ she asked the panel.
Lalas was the first to chime in, but it’s fair to say nobody expected what he went on to say in front of millions of TV viewers.
‘Oh! What do you guys call them?’ Lalas began, before adding: ‘Full kit w****r right?’
All three of his colleagues were immediately stunned by the comment, with Henry staring down the camera in shock.
Lowe, seemingly attempting to steer the conversation another direction, then replied: ‘Okay… lucky we’re on American television.’
Tempers flared live on air on June 16 when Lalas’ fellow American and ex-USA soccer star Landon Donovan labeled the French team ‘arrogant’ and ‘casual’ during a below-par first-half performance against Senegal.
Back in the studio at half-time, Henry hit back, telling Donovan: ‘I just don’t get it. So because you’re not 1-0 or 2-0 or 3-0 up after 15 minutes, those words have to come out?’
The analyst stopped the Fox broadcast in its track with a shocking slur at James Corden
Lead host Rebecca Lowe and Henry both pulled stunned faces after the viral moment
He then appeared to take a dig at Donovan’s lack of knowledge about the impressive Senegal team, adding: ‘We all knew that was going to happen. If people don’t know how Senegal can play, that’s on them.’
At full-time, after France had enjoyed a much stronger second half to win 3-1, Ibrahimovic got involved in the debate, spurred on by comments from Lalas.
The American reignited the ‘arrogant’ France debate by saying: ‘We had that nice little fun back-and-forth between Landon and Thierry about whether the French were arrogant in the first half. We can have that discussion, but the reality is that if they are arrogant, it’s because they can do things like that…’
Zlatan then jumped in, creating a toe-curling moment of awkwardness live on air, when he stated: ‘It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence. Ignorant people will say it’s arrogance, intelligent people will say it’s confidence.’
As Henry looked straight down the camera with a stunned facial expression, Lowe jumped in to get the broadcast back on track.
‘Okay, good to know,’ she said, before laughing.
It was not the first time the Americans clashed with their European colleagues either.
On the first couple of days of the tournament last week, there were multiple flashpoints that hinted at some tension in the ranks.
One such moment occurred when the panel were discussing Erling Haaland, and Lalas made the bold decision to claim that a good tournament for the Norwegian would see him surpass Ibrahimovic in the record books.
Henry and Ibrahimovic looked delighted to be working without Lalas in Friday’s USA game
Instead of being in the studio, Lalas traveled to Seattle to watch the USMNT play Australia
‘I love you Z, but I will take Haaland over you if he has a big World Cup,’ Lalas told Ibrahimovic. Suffice to say, the Sweden icon disagreed, and immediately hit back to present his own argument.
Then, on Friday, Henry and Ibrahimovic seemingly could not hide their delight as they were given the day off from sharing analyst duties with Lalas, who traveled to Seattle for the USMNT’s second group game against Australia.
Lalas was joined by anchor Rob Stone and fellow US soccer legends Clint Dempsey and Carli Lloyd outside Lumen Field, while thousands of fans gathered around the set before kickoff.
That left Henry and Ibrahimovic in the regular Fox studio in Los Angeles with Lowe. And when Lowe announced that Lalas ‘has left us,’ Zlatan quickly replied: ‘America, you’re welcome.’
That moment set social media ablaze and fans watching on from home claimed the pair looked overjoyed to be without Lalas.
Before the Fox broadcast went live on Friday, Henry and Ibrahimovic also posted a montage of them doing some outrageous skills in the studio. The pair showed they’ve still got remarkable talent as they performed a number of tricks and flicks.
But the very first clip in the video showed Henry teasing Lalas towards the ball before he quickly whipped it away from the helpless American.
Many fans who watched the viral video took it as a not-so-subtle dig at Lalas’ inferior ability.
Henry and Ibrahimovic posted a clip of themselves doing insane tricks, including one on Lalas
On Saturday, Lalas refused to bow to European pressure to use the term ‘football’ during the World Cup over soccer.
A fan took issue with Lalas using the term soccer and they argued on X that Lalas should attempt to ‘bridge the gap’ out of respect for the global game.
They argued that even the USMNT’s players are referring to the sport as football in their interviews with overseas outlets ‘out of respect.’
However, the American analyst wasn’t caving. He fired back at the fan, claiming switching to ‘football’ would make him a ‘weak poser.’
‘Yeah…that’s not gonna happen,’ he wrote, quote-tweeting the fan’s post on X. ‘I call it soccer. I own it proudly. I never apologize for it.
‘If you grew up calling it soccer and changed out of insecurity or some misguided belief it makes you more authentic/credible…it doesn’t. It’s cringe. It makes you look like a weak poser.’
