The superstars have come out to play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the race for the Golden Boot alone will tell you that.
Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Ousmane Dembele sit one through five atop the tournament’s scoring charts, exactly how football fans would want and expect to see it.
Those names, particularly Mbappe, Messi, and Haaland, have understandably drawn all of the attention thus far. However, analyst Taylor Twellman believes another member of Team France might just be in the best form of them all right now with the potential to win the Golden Ball, and that’s Michael Olise.
“I would argue it’s number 11 on France, Michael Olise (the Golden Ball). He is in the conversation for the best player in the world right now, and he’s as good as it gets. He’s got more assists in a single World Cup tournament than anyone in history. Nobody is really talking about him in the headlines because of Mbappe and Dembele… Olise’s in the conversation right now for the best attacking player in the world,”
The 24-year-old Olise has racked up five assists in six games played so far this tournament despite not scoring a goal of his own.
Those five assists have all been perfect setups that very few players in the world can make. That’s what makes Olise so special and France almost impossible to stop when he’s finding the likes of Mbappe and Dembele for grade-A scoring chances.
Olise needs just one more assist to tie Pele for the most in a single World Cup in tournament history at six, and with the way France is playing right now, there’s a very good chance he breaks the record with two more matches still to go.
If he does that and France lifts the trophy, Olise will indeed have a strong case to win the Golden Ball when all is said and done.
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