World Cup 2026: Nigerian-born Olise equals Maradona record as France knock out Sweden

Nigerian-born winger Michael Olise put on a creative masterclass on Tuesday, registering a brilliant brace of assists to help France decimate Sweden 3-0 in New Jersey.

The victory cruised the European heavyweights into the next stage of the tournament, while the young playmaker earned a historic place alongside the absolute legends of the global game.

Operating under intense summer heat, Olise was a constant thorn in the Swedish defence from the opening whistle, even unluckily hitting the woodwork himself with a spectacular first-half scissor kick.

After Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring just before the break, Olise completely took over playmaking duties in the second half.

The Bayern Munich star first unlocked the defence eight minutes after the restart, picking out Bradley Barcola with a perfectly weighted pass to rifle home France's second.

He capped off his majestic performance in the 74th minute, threading another excellent ball to Mbappé to seal the 3-0 rout. The two creative actions took Olise to an incredible five assists for the 2026 tournament, placing him firmly at the top of the World Cup providers' chart.

By reaching the five-assist milestone in a single tournament, the 24-year-old became only the sixth player in World Cup history since 1966 to achieve the feat.

His incredible tournament run sees him equal the single-edition output of football royalty like Diego Maradona in 1986 and Pelé in 1970.

What makes Olise's stat line even more staggering is his sheer efficiency; he has accumulated his five career World Cup assists in just four total appearances on the global stage.

With Maradona and Lionel Messi currently sharing the all-time tournament record of eight career assists each,

Olise is already rapidly closing in on the grand record. Didier Deschamps' side will now look to carry this immense offensive momentum into their Round of 32 clash against Paraguay in Philadelphia on July 4.