World Cup 2026: France Have Plenty of Stars – But Michael Olise Stole the Show Against Senegal

Kylian Mbappé grabbed the goals and the glory. But if you watched France’s 3-1 victory over Senegal closely, you already know who really made it happen. Michael Olise was the heartbeat of this performance, the player who unlocked a stubborn Senegal side and set France on course for a winning start to their 2026 World Cup campaign.

From Crystal Palace Outcast to World Cup Starter

Two years ago, Michael Olise was not even close to being considered for France’s Euro 2024 squad. He was still at Crystal Palace, had no experience of European club football, and was nowhere near the conversation for international selection. Fast forward to today, and here he is, starting for France in the opening game of a World Cup held on American soil.

It says a great deal about how rapidly Olise has developed and how much confidence Didier Deschamps has placed in him. Of the 11 players France sent out from the start against Senegal at MetLife Stadium, only four were not part of the squad that started the 2022 World Cup final. Olise was one of those four, alongside Désiré Doué, William Saliba, and Mike Maignan. Yet of that group, it was the Bayern Munich winger who made the most emphatic statement about his right to be there.

A Difficult First Half That Could Have Gone Either Way

France were not good in the opening 45 minutes. That is the honest assessment. The 2018 world champions managed just three touches inside the Senegal box during the entire first half and registered only one shot, worth a mere 0.02 expected goals. It was a performance that barely warranted a place in a World Cup highlights reel.

Olise was not entirely blameless in that sluggish first-half showing. His influence on the right flank was limited, and his impact on the game was minimal. But he was far from the only one underperforming. Mbappé, in particular, had a string of poor touches and looked far short of his best. At half-time, with France desperately needing a spark, questions could reasonably have been asked about Olise’s place in the starting eleven.

Deschamps Makes the Call, Olise Delivers

Didier Deschamps made the decision not to remove Olise but to reposition him. The Bayern Munich man was shifted from the right flank into a more central role behind Mbappé, and the effect was almost immediate. France were transformed.

In the second half alone, France produced 10 shots with a combined expected goals value of 1.87. The contrast with the first half was stark, and Olise was at the centre of almost everything good that France did.

The Numbers That Tell the Full Story

The statistics behind Olise’s performance are genuinely remarkable, particularly when you consider that his best work came almost entirely in the second half.

Olise made 12 more passes in the final third than any other France player on the pitch. He created four chances in total, exactly twice as many as any other player in the game. His expected assists figure of 0.95 is second only to Spain’s Pedri across all players at the 2026 World Cup so far. Crucially, Pedri accumulated that figure against Cape Verde. Olise built his against Senegal, the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions, albeit a title they have since had stripped from them.

The Moment That Changed the Game

There is one moment in this match that best sums up what Olise brought to France on this occasion. With the game still goalless and Senegal’s defence looking well-organised, Olise picked the ball up out on the right and played a single, incisive pass into the box. It cut directly through the heart of the Senegal defensive structure and laid the ball perfectly into the path of Mbappé, who finished to open the scoring.

It was the kind of pass that requires not just technical quality but also an understanding of space, timing, and weight that few players at any level possess. Olise is perhaps better known for his dribbling ability, but that one moment showed clearly that his vision and passing range are equally elite.

Before that assist, Olise had already been denied a goal of his own. His driving run across the Senegal defence and into the box had resulted in a fine save from goalkeeper Édouard Mendy. It was a moment that deserved more than it got.

Mbappé Got the Goals, But Olise Made Them Possible

Kylian Mbappé finished the game with two goals, a brace that moved him to within two of Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record. His second goal, a ferocious strike from around 25 yards that flew into the top corner, was the kind of effort that stops the world watching. It will be on every highlights package for days.

But both goals have Olise’s fingerprints on them.

The first is straightforward. Olise’s perfectly weighted pass did the hard work, and Mbappé simply had to apply the finish. For the second, Olise did not register the assist in the official statistics because another touch came before Mbappé struck. However, it was his driving run through the centre of the pitch that created the entire situation. Without Olise’s carry, there is no second goal.

Mbappé, to his credit, was understandably grateful. He had struggled for much of the game and needed exactly the kind of gift that Olise provided to get his tournament up and running.

Where Does This Rank Among 2026 World Cup Performances?

Olise’s total of 1.35 non-penalty expected goals and expected assists combined is the highest recorded by any player at the 2026 World Cup to this point. That figure alone places the performance among the most influential individual showings of the tournament’s opening stages.

The fact that Olise effectively produced this output in half a match makes it all the more extraordinary. His repositioning at the break gave him approximately 45 minutes to exert this level of influence on the game. That he did so against a Senegal side of genuine quality only adds to the achievement.

The Bigger Picture for France and the 2026 World Cup

France have now won their opening Group I fixture and will head into the remainder of the group stage with confidence. They are a squad loaded with world-class talent, and the depth available to Deschamps is formidable. But the emergence of Olise as a genuine match-winner at this level changes the nature of the threat France can pose.

When opponents plan for France, they prepare for Mbappé. They prepare for Dembélé, for Doué, for the technical quality spread across the squad. Adding Olise as another primary creative threat, capable of producing the best expected assists figure in the tournament, complicates defensive preparation significantly.

He came into this tournament without the household name status of several of his teammates. By the time the 2026 World Cup reaches its conclusion, that will no longer be the case.

Read More: How Lionel Messi Rewrote the Record Books Against Algeria at World Cup 2026

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