L'Equipe, a sports daily, ran the headline "Hand of God" on Thursday _ a phrase which has been used to refer to Argentina player Diego Maradona's hand-assisted goal in a 2-1 win over England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup.

Other newspapers were more critical Friday after the controversial goal that sent France to a fourth consecutive World Cup appearance at Ireland's expense.

Henry handled the ball with his left hand before setting up William Gallas' goal against Ireland in extra time on Wednesday. The goal gave France a 2-1 aggregate win in their playoff.

The incident has provoked strong reaction from the media, the public and politicians _ similar to when France star Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final, which France lost to Italy in a penalty shootout.

"France at World Cup, this is not cool," read a headline on the front page of Friday's edition of the left-leaning daily Liberation. Popular daily Le Parisien called it an "embarrassment," while Le Figaro said Henry's hand ball has "become a state affair."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly told Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen he felt sorry for the Irish. Henry himself issued a statement Friday saying a replay would be the "fairest solution."

The Football Association of Ireland asked FIFA and of the French Football Federation for a replay, but FIFA rejected the request on Friday, in accordance with its rules. The French Football Federation declined to comment on the decision after France coach Raymond Domenech insisted it was the referee's mistake and refused to apologize.

"For me, it was part of the game and not cheating," Domenech told L'Express magazine. "So I don't understand why we are being asked to apologize."

Domenech added that his team had accomplished the lion's share of the job with a 1-0 win in Dublin in the first leg of the playoff.

"We are not going to commit hara-kiri because the referee made a mistake in our favor," Domenech said. "When Maradona scores with the hand, everybody finds it extraordinary. We can ask Thierry to have angel wings and a halo, but it should be the same for everybody."

Still, many in France have spoken out in support of a replay, casting the incident as a national embarrassment.

Francois Bayrou, leader of France's third biggest political party, Modem, said that in an ideal world the match should be replayed, while Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she felt "very sad" that the national team had qualified for the World Cup by "cheating."

Lagarde said Friday on French radio that she was "obviously very happy that the team is in the World Cup but I think it's very sad to have qualified by this... by cheating."

Lagarde urged FIFA to review its rules, which stipulate that decisions taken by referees are final.

"FIFA would do well to look at the rules because I think it would be good, in such circumstances, to decide maybe to replay the match," Lagarde said. "Firstly, we should respect the referee. Secondly we respect the rules. But if the rules are bad, they have to be challenged."

Football fan Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a member of the Green party, was one of the few French politicians to openly defend Henry, saying that France's victory was completely unmerited but that the striker "had done his job."