Ibrahimović fails lie detector on Lalas and Henry respect in Corden appearance

Zlatan Ibrahimović’s self-confidence took a few dents on After Hours with James Corden, where the Sweden legend and FOX Sports analyst submitted to a lie detector test that exposed some candid truths about his feelings toward colleagues Alexi Lalas and Thierry Henry.

The polygraph ruled that Ibrahimović was lying when he claimed to respect the opinions of all FOX Sports analysts — bad news for both Lalas and Henry, who were watching from the studio. The machine also caught him out on his assertion that he is the most handsome man ever to play in a FIFA World Cup, and on the suggestion that his famous self-confidence is merely a mask.

Where the test found him truthful, the results were equally revealing. Ibrahimović genuinely believes he is a better player than Henry, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane. He also maintained, without triggering the alarm, that a FOX Sports panel made up entirely of four Zlatans would outperform the current lineup of himself, Lalas, Henry and presenter Rebecca Lowe.

On more personal matters, the test confirmed that Ibrahimović does not tip 20 percent in the United States, has not googled himself in the past week, and — more than a decade on — has still not moved past his 2010 falling-out with former manager Pep Guardiola. One genuinely warm result: he truly enjoyed his time in MLS with LA Galaxy between 2018 and 2019.

The segment closed with Ibrahimović admitting, truthfully by the machine’s reckoning, that appearing on air with Corden is “beneath” him — a line he quickly tried to soften by telling his FOX colleagues it was “all love.”

“Rebecca, you look great. You look sharp, Monsieur [Thierry]. Alexi, we can discuss,” Ibrahimović quipped, leaving Lalas’s standing conspicuously unresolved.

Lowe had the last word, putting Ibrahimović’s broadcasting credentials to the test by asking him to toss to a commercial break live on air.