Olise delivers second assist and within reach of historic France record

Michael Olise set up Kylian Mbappé for the opening goal in the 14th minute of the France-Iraq match on Monday in Philadelphia, recording his second assist in as many matches at the 2026 World Cup. The Bayern Munich midfielder joins Alain Giresse and Théo Hernandez in a very short list of French players to have assisted a teammate in their first two World Cup matches.

Giresse achieved this feat during the 1982 Spanish campaign: he first found Gérard Soler in the defeat to England (1-3) at San Mamés, before setting up Michel Platini for the 2-0 against Kuwait (4-1) in Valladolid. The Bordeaux playmaker then scored twice against Northern Ireland and played a major role in the epic semi-final against West Germany, decided on penalties (3-3, 4-5 a.e.t.) in Seville. Théo Hernandez in turn matched “Gigi” at Qatar in 2022, with assists against Australia (4-1) and Denmark (2-1).

Olise opened his account in France’s first match against Senegal (3-1), setting up Mbappé for the opening goal — a performance that earned him the man of the match award. Against Iraq, he repeated the feat by finding his captain with a pass that allowed him to beat goalkeeper Ahmed Basil with a long-range left-footed strike.

This comes in an already historic 2026 World Cup for France: Mbappé became France’s all-time leading goalscorer in the match against Senegal, surpassing Olivier Giroud thanks to a brace.

On Friday, facing Norway, Olise will have the chance to reach a milestone no one has yet achieved: becoming the first player in France’s history to record an assist in each of the first three matches of the same World Cup.