Michael Olise sets France records with early impact

Michael Olise is rapidly becoming one of the defining figures in France’s new era. The Bayern Munich forward has reached several historic benchmarks after continuing his decisive run with Les Bleus, including a goal against Belgium.

Olise now has 11 goals and 11 assists from his first 29 international appearances. That gives him 22 goal involvements, the highest total for a France player across his opening 29 caps since Youri Djorkaeff recorded 23 in 1997, through 15 goals and eight assists. Olise has also scored four times against teams currently ranked in the world’s top 10, matching David Trezeguet’s mark and moving ahead of Ousmane Dembélé, who has three.

His influence has been especially consistent since Zinédine Zidane became France coach. Olise is the first player in the national team’s history to contribute to a goal in each of a manager’s first four matches, registering four goals and two assists during that sequence. The 24-year-old has also reached 10 goals and 10 assists faster than any France player in the modern record cited, doing so in 29 matches. Raymond Kopa needed 28 appearances to reach the same combined threshold in 1958, leaving Olise one match short of that mark.