Michael Olise one assist away from equalling Pele's World Cup record
France's Michael Olise is on the verge of making history, needing just one more assist to match Pele's legendary record in a single World Cup edition.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Author: YantsImages
France midfielder Michael Olise is enjoying a stellar World Cup, establishing himself as the tournament's leading playmaker. With five assists already to his name, he stands on the brink of equaling or surpassing a historic record held by the legendary Pele.
Pele set the record with six assists in a single edition during the 1970 World Cup. Olise has already become only the fifth player in history to reach the five-assist mark at a single tournament, joining the ranks of Grzegorz Lato, Pierre Littbarski, Diego Maradona, and Thomas Hässler. However, none of those players managed to surpass Pele's tally.
A significant portion of Olise's success has been his chemistry with Kylian Mbappé, who has converted three of his five assists. The other two were delivered to Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola.
With Bruno Guimarães and Brahim Diaz, who were also leading the assist charts, having been eliminated from the competition, the path for the French playmaker has become even clearer.
Olise will have his first opportunity to equal or break the record in the upcoming semifinal against Spain. Should France progress to the final or participate in the third-place play-off, the midfielder will have additional chances to etch his name into World Cup history.