Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle felt the assistant referee on the far side of the pitch was the man to blame.
He said: "I don't know about the ref not seeing it, but the linesman had as good a view as anyone and him not seeing it is embarrassing.
“It's instinctive and if you can get away with it... I'm sure Henry was expecting the free kick to be given and I can't believe it's not been caught.
"I don't blame him, so much as it not being seen. It's difficult, we're playing in Paris in front of a big crowd and it's just difficult for us to get what was not even a 50-50 decision. He's caught it and pulled it back again.
"We had the better chances, we came at them and didn't let them settle. We played the better football over the two legs.”
Richard Dunne sat on the pitch talking to a reflective Thierry Henry at the end of the match, but rather than blame him or the ref, the Aston Villa defender vented his anger at FIFA.
Dunne said: "He admitted afterwards he handled it, but it doesn't make me feel any better because we are not going to the World Cup finals.
"FIFA will probably be happy. Yet again the big decisions have gone for the bigger team. There has to be a case for matches of this importance for a fourth official to look at replays and get the calls right. We were cheated tonight."
Henry himself admitted he had handled the ball but laid responsibility for the goal being allowed at the door of referee Hansson. "It was a handball, but I'm not the ref," he said on BBC Radio Five Live.
"The ball hit my arm, fell in front of me and I played it. The ref allowed it. That's a question you should ask him."
