There are some players you watch and just think, yeah, he's going to be a problem for defenders. Michael Olise is very much one of those players, and now former France international Gael Clichy has come out and said what plenty of people have been thinking for a while — that Olise could be the breakout star of the 2026 World Cup.
Clichy, who earned over 20 caps for France during his playing days, knows a thing or two about what it takes to perform at the highest level on the international stage. When someone with that kind of experience starts talking up a player, it's worth sitting up and paying attention. And the case for Olise is honestly not a hard one to make.
Since his move to Bayern Munich, Olise has looked like a player completely at home in one of Europe's biggest clubs. He's got that rare combination of technical quality, pace and the ability to do something unexpected at any moment. He can go past players, he can pick a pass, and he scores goals that make you rewind the highlights just to make sure you actually saw that correctly. For a France team that is absolutely stacked with talent, standing out is no small thing — but Olise genuinely has the tools to do it.
The interesting thing about France going into this World Cup is that they have so many attacking options that the manager almost has a headache picking a team. Mbappe is still the main man, obviously, but behind him there's a queue of seriously good players all wanting their moment. Olise fitting into that setup as the unpredictable, creative force could actually work really well. Sometimes a team full of stars needs someone who plays with a bit of freedom and joy, and that feels like Olise's natural mode.
At 22 years old, the timing feels right for him to make a real statement on the world stage. Clichy clearly believes in him, and watching Olise play, it's pretty easy to see why. This could be the summer that turns him from a very good player into a household name.
Let me know your thoughts.