Lionel Messi has been a great player for nearly 20 years, and Kylian Mbappé for nearly 10. But this World Cup has revealed a new genius. Michael Olise, 24, an introverted West Londoner who plays for France, started his debut World Cup against Senegal at outside-right. Moved to midfield playmaker at half-time, he delivered a through-ball for Mbappé to score, then took control of the game. On Tuesday, Olise delivered his crowning performance to date in France’s 3-0 thrashing of Sweden.
His five assists after just four games are only one behind Pelé’s single-tournament record set at the 1970 World Cup — and Olise has up to four games left. His overhead volley that hit Sweden’s post from a stray aerial ball was a miss as memorable as Pelé’s lob from his own half against Czechoslovakia in 1970. On Saturday, football’s newest great faces Paraguay in Philadelphia for a spot in the quarter-final.
Olise grew up in Hayes near Heathrow airport, with a French-Algerian mother and a Nigerian father. “I actually come from four countries: France, Algeria, Nigeria and Great Britain,” he said in a rare interview in 2024. “I consider myself very lucky to possess these four parts, which all enrich me.” His mother spoke to him in French, and he’d reply in English. He was a fanatical chess player, a talented cricketer — he has said his father played the sport for Nigeria — and a footballer who spent seven years in Chelsea’s academy, then briefly Manchester City’s. However, both clubs ditched him.