Michael Olise rang Thierry Henry every day in the spring of 2024 to push for a place in France’s Paris Olympic squad. At the same time, England were monitoring the Crystal Palace winger as a possible Euro 2024 call-up.
Henry, who coached France’s men’s team to Olympic silver in Paris, says he never had to sell the France shirt to a player eligible for four nations.
“He convinced himself. Michael called me every day to go to the Olympics, while the England team wanted him for the European Championship,” Henry told the Kampo podcast, as reported by Maxifoot on Thursday.
Four passports, one choice
Olise, 24, was born in White City in west London to a British-Nigerian father and a Franco-Algerian mother, making him eligible for England, France, Algeria and Nigeria. He went through France’s youth teams and made his senior debut for Les Bleus against Italy on 6 September 2024 under Didier Deschamps, locking him to France for good.
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England had taken an interest the previous summer, when Deschamps left him out of the Euro 2024 squad and the then senior boss, Gareth Southgate, floated the possibility of a switch of association.
Vieira: ‘A better chance of being world champion’
Patrick Vieira, who managed Olise at Crystal Palace, offered the clearest explanation of what tipped the balance. In quotes to L’Équipe carried by GiveMeSport in July, Vieira said Olise had told him there was never any contest.
“There was no question of England or anything else. He told me he had always been a supporter of the French national team. And he also explained to me that he had a better chance of becoming a world champion with Les Bleus than with England.”
Neither nation got there in the end. France and England were both knocked out in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, which Spain went on to win on 19 July, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Olise still left the tournament as its leading creator, with seven assists, the most by any player in a single World Cup.
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Zidane’s new favourite
The decision looks even sharper now under Zinédine Zidane, who was named Deschamps’ successor in July and has leaned heavily on the Bayern Munich forward. Olise has already assisted Kylian Mbappé’s goal in Zidane’s debut match, a 1-0 win away to Türkiye, and scored twice against Belgium in the new coach’s first home game.
“It’s just exceptional what Michael does,” Zidane said after that 4-1 win over Belgium at the Stade de France on 5 October. “He’s an absolute natural talent and simply loves playing football.”
Olise is in Zidane’s 23-man squad for the November international break. France play Italy at the San Siro on Thursday before hosting Türkiye at the Stade Atlantique in Bordeaux on Sunday.
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