Behind France’s relentless attack is a 24-year-old conductor with dreadlocks and instincts that seem borrowed from another era. Behind Spain’s impenetrable defence is a 19-year-old whose composure belongs to a man twice his age. The France versus Spain semi-final in Dallas is many things at once: a tactical chess match, a collision of European giants, a game that deserved to be a final. Above all, it is a window into football’s future.
Some of these players are already superstars. Kylian Mbappe is only 26, arguably not yet at his peak. But it is the names beyond Mbappe that hum with possibility, players who could fill the vast space Messi and Ronaldo, Modric and De Bruyne will eventually leave behind.
ALSO READ | Deschamps’ magic square: How Mbappe, Dembele, Doue, Olise are crushing opponents
Michael Olise is the fulcrum of France’s machine. Before this World Cup, he was known chiefly to European football devotees. Now he is unmissable, a playmaker of equal parts intuition and intelligence, running the French show with his passing, movement and energy. In full flight he is a joy to watch, all snake-hipped pirouettes and delectable touches, a man who seems to have more time on the ball than physics should allow. He uses that time to bend games to his will.
Olise has run the French show with his passing, movement and energy throughout this World Cup edition. (AP Photo)
His path here was not straightforward. His father, Vincent, grew up playing cricket in Nigeria before migrating to London and building a life in the corporate world. Football was never the plan. It became young Michael’s fixation anyway, and Vincent would joke that it came entirely from his mother’s side. She is French-Algerian, which made Olise eligible to represent four nations. He chose France because his idols were French, Zinedine Zidane above all. The admiration has since come full circle. “People see the dribbling, the tricks and the flair,” Zidane said on Canal Plus, “but what impresses me most is his understanding of the game. He knows exactly when to slow it down, when to accelerate, and when to deliver the final pass.”
The players around Olise only deepen the alarm for France’s rivals. Desire Doue, operating to Olise’s left, has explosive pace, immaculate control and the kind of versatility that leaves managers debating where best to deploy him. Bradley Barcola, only 23, offers similar electricity from the other flank. Didier Deschamps has the happiest headache of all managers, because the French cupboard is overflowing. So flush is it that Rayan Cherki, a 22-year-old of exceptional talent, has played just 61 minutes, and 20-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery had to wait until the dying moments of the Morocco quarterfinal to make his World Cup debut. Midfielder Manu Kone and centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo, two of the tournament’s most assured performers, are both 25. “They could be a dynastic team,” Thierry Henry has said. It is hard to argue.
Spain offer a parallel vision. Lamine Yamal turned 19 recently and is already spoken of as the player who will carry Messi’s torch. He has more club goals and assists than either Messi or Ronaldo had at his age, and is the most purely entertaining player at this tournament. His left foot bends to his imagination.
Story continues below this ad
Spain’s Pau Cubarsi (22) clears the ball over Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku (9) during the World Cup quarterfinal between Spain and Belgium. (AP Photo/Marcio J. Sanchez)
On the flanks, Nico Williams and Alex Baena, both 24, provide different but complementary threats. Williams, still working his way back from injury and limited to cameos, can be as devastating as Yamal on his day. Baena is less flashy but craftier, with a hammer for a right foot that opponents underestimate at their cost.
ALSO READ | Luis de la Fuente: The architect of Spain who loves bullfighting
If Yamal is Spain’s figurehead, then Pedri and Pau Cubarsi form the nucleus. Pedri, 23, is the metronome. Even in the tightest spaces he finds passing lanes, rarely loses the ball, and has the rare gift of making time seem to expand around him. Xavi, who coached him at Barcelona, once said simply: “Pedri has no ceiling.” His football at its best is improvised art, a throwback to Spain’s tiki-taka peak. So deep is the Spanish midfield that 21-year-old Gavi, world-class in his own right, has barely featured.
And then there is Cubarsi, who anchors a defence broken only once in this tournament. At 19, he plays with the authority of a seasoned veteran. Only Paolo Maldini had more clean sheets in a World Cup at the same age. “It doesn’t seem like he’s 19,” goalkeeper Unai Simon said. “The way he takes on responsibility is enviable.” Xavi put it more simply: “When I watch him, my heart rate doesn’t change.”
Dallas cannot come soon enough.
