“Magnificent”, “fantastic”: double decisive passer and first defender to lose the ball, Michael Olise made all the good moves against Sweden (3-0) on Tuesday in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, and would have deserved a goal as a reward.
The striker, who is coming off a remarkable season with his club Bayern Munich, gained momentum with the Blues during the group stage. On the pitch at MetLife Stadium, he made an impression against the Swedes.
“Michael performs at a very, very high level. He needed a little time with us,” greeted coach Didier Deschamps. “He has an influence which is very important. When Michael touches the ball, things happen. It feeds the offensive players and forms the link between the defensive and offensive phase. He has this introverted character and is so sensitive but on the pitch, he has personality.”
Positioned in N.10, he did not hesitate to go back down to his camp to take the balls and widen the play or throw in depth Bradley Barcola (6) and Kylian Mbappé, who scored before being flagged offside (20).
It was he who was at the origin of the first French goal: on the left, he launched Dembélé who shifted Mbappé. The Real Madrid striker slalomed through the defense and scored with a curling right (45) before dedicating his goal to Didier Deschamps, mourning the loss of his mother last week.
Acrobatic flip
But the best was yet to come. At 30 meters, he threw a small pass into the Barcola hole which shifted and doubled the mark (52).
He was once again the decisive passer for the third goal, Mbappé’s double (74). With this fifth assist since the start of the tournament, he leads the category ranking ahead of the Brazilian Bruno Guimaraes (4).
He also attempted shots, passed close to the post (42, 45, 65) and came close to winning the prize for the best goal of the tournament when his acrobatic return crashed into Jacob Zetterstrom’s left post. On the rebound, Oumane Dembélé took over without control but missed the target (36th).
“I thought he was going to control with his chest because he didn’t look at the goal before,” greeted Mbappé. “It was a fantastic gesture unfortunately he was unlucky, but we go to the stadium to see this kind of gesture.”
He also took free kicks and corners and could have scored again, if he had not taken a caviar from Mbappé by stumbling on Zetterstrom (72nd).
At the end of this almost perfect match, he was replaced by Rayan Cherki in the 85th minute.
Admirer of Zidane and Henry
“He’s magnificent,” exclaimed Malo Gusto, coming off the bench to replace Koundé in the 75th minute. “He helped the team as usual, we are very happy to have this kind of player and if he continues to help us win, we will take it.”
The 24-year-old London native dazzled throughout the season, scoring 22 goals and 31 assists with Bayern, particularly in the Bundesliga and the Champions League.
Born to a Nigerian father and a Franco-Algerian mother, Olise could have defended the colors of England, Nigeria and Algeria. But it was France whose stars he admired, Zinédine Zidane and Thierry Henry in the lead, and whose youth team jersey he wore, which he chose very quickly.
If he shines on the pitch, “Monsieur Nonchalant” – his nickname in the France group – is very reserved in public and, with his still approximate French, remains an enigma for the followers of the Blues. He also crossed the mixed zone on Tuesday evening with his head buried in the hood of his track jacket, carefully avoiding meeting the eyes of the journalists who only had eyes for him or almost.
