For anyone who doesn’t quite know what the OP is talking about, here is a replay of the incident on YouTube at the very end of the France-Ireland football game today. Personally, I think both Henry and Gallas (the French players) should accept responsibility for this, and fair play would have suggested they tell the referee what happened. However, competitive sports are like this sometimes, and at the level they play at, and the stakes, I can see where a tight-lipped approach is chosen. As far as the specific play, Henry appeared to be surprised by the ball hitting his hand (didn’t seem deliberate to me), but he most certainly benefited as the ball would have otherwise skipped out of bounds harmlessly instead of falling in his lap for him to pass to Gallas. Of course, this is not nearly as bad as the Diego Maradona deliberate handball to defeat England during the World Cup quarterfinals, but that does not mitigate the circumstances. Finally, as far as the result goes, there is no way to know what would have happened even if the goal had been disallowed. The cumulative result of the tie would have been 1–1, with both teams scoring an away goal. Thus, extra time ± penalties would have been required, and France might still have won the game. Edit: The more I watch the replay, the more I think he did stick his hand out to stop the ball. Maybe it is as bad as Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal.