There are 75 players at the 2026 FIFA World Cup who are born in France – representing around 10 nations. Michael Olise, the lynchpin of the French attack, the puppeteer pulling the strings from the right wing, while setting up Kylian Mbappé’s strikes – isn’t one. Olise was born in London.
He has been called the ‘today and tomorrow’ of French football by Mbappé, after his assists first helped France steady early nerves and a ponderous first half against Senegal, when the French captain finally scored. Against Iraq in a rain-drenched game, Olise was quicker to get France going, when his pinpoint service to Mbappé took his captain to 15 World Cup goals in his 100th match. Roving on the right, well out of the defensive unit’s peripheral sights, Olise kept pinging in precise passes that the French forwards could convert, with Dembele receiving an Olise assist and scoring the French third in a 3-0 win.
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The reason Mbappé and Olise have hit it off so quickly is because his left foot on the right flank works out angles, strikes rotating acceleration with such rhythm that Mbappé is receiving deliveries at his footstep. Like a norden bombsight of an ancient bombardier, Olise has been gauging movement around the box, mapping his teammates’ likely pathways and using his creative vision to open supply lines and pave the path for the captain.
There was grumpiness from English shores when Olise chose to play for France. He grew up in London, born to a Nigerian-English father and Franco-Algerian mother. “I possess four parts of each of these countries. All four parts enrich me,” he has maintained.
Explaining why he picked France, he said, “I always had a connection with the French national team. It was a childhood dream to play for them given I spent a lot of holidays at my mother’s home,” he explained.
His brother still plays for Chelsea, while Michael went over to Bayern Munich, after a fruitful stint at Crystal Palace, where besides becoming the youngest goal-scorer at the club, he showed a flair and generosity for rustling up the most assists in a single season – 10.