Thierry Henry: Didier Deschamps may have thought taking Karim Benzema would have been a distraction for France

Former French Euro winner believes current national coach may have guarded against including controversial Real Madrid forward

Didier Deschamps (right) left out Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema from his France squad for Euro 2016 (Getty)

Thierry Henry knows the benefits of pulling in the same direction: he was part of the 1998 and 2000 squads that won consecutive Word Cup and Euros with France, and he is adamant that it must all be about the team not the individual - which is the reason Didier Deschamps, the current French coach, has decided to omit Karim Benzema from his squad.

The Real Madrid striker was not included in the party after being embroiled in a blackmail saga with one-time France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape, even though he has been cleared in the courts. The furore has been a dark cloud hanging over French football as they prepare to host their tournament.

“It is not down to quality,” Henry said. “It is not down to whether you have the best player in the world or not. It is down to the togetherness that you have to have. I think right now France have got that. We have a good team. And it is a team.”

Henry, who will be a pundit for the BBC during the finals, is keen to state that he is not judging whether Benzema should or should not be in the France squad - but that decisions are not always about talent. “I did not follow it too much,” Henry said of the trail. “I was just waiting for that crucial moment: ‘Is he going to go or not?’

“I don’t know what happened behind the scenes but they decided in the end not to take him. You have to respect that.

“Maybe along the way they thought that everything behind the issue was going to be a distraction. Maybe they went with the fact that they have a team and whoever is in that team believes that they could win it.

"With Benzema in the team, it could have been better, but Didier Deschamps and the French FA decided differently.

“It was the same thing when Aime Jacquet did not take Eric Cantona [to Euro 96]. What was the first reaction of everyone? He is mad!

Thierry Henry and Didier Deschamps celebrate a Lilian Thuram goal during France's 1998 World Cup semi-final win over Croatia (Getty)

"I was there also and I used to love Cantona and when he was not in the squad I was mystified: ‘Why was he not in the squad?’ You guys were even more so because the Euros were in England. I don’t know what the plan was for Jacquet, and whether you think he was crazy or not, it worked in his favour [France reached the semi-finals].

“And that is talking about Cantona, who we all loved. But he was not going to disturb what Jacquet wanted and from what I hear, that is not going to disrupt Deschamps’ plans.

“Whether you agree with it or not, they obviously have a plan and they are sticking to the plan whatever happens outside of that. You have got to have that strong core in order to win.”

Henry believes France - like they did for the World Cup two decades ago - have been planning for this tournament for some time and they certainly have an eye-catching team - albeit one untested in the heat of the scrap due to the hosts being spared qualifying.

“In France for 1998, we started planning in 1995. Didier Descamps did the same thing with this team. They went to the World Cup in Brazil knowing they were not going to win it but to create a team for the Euros.

"Now we have [Antoine] Greizmann, N’Golo Kante, Hugo Lloris and do not forget that Patrice Evra has a lot of experience. You need a couple of those guys around.”

So, does he think France will win it? “You don’t have a favourite – a really strong favourite,” Henry said. “France did not have to qualify so we don’t know where we are at in terms of official games. But you can also have a Greece winning it or a Denmark. It might even be England!”

The BBC will provide extensive coverage of Euro 2016 across TV, radio and online from Friday 10th June 2016