One of the most exciting wingers the Premier League has seen in decades, Michael Olise is a truly generational talent. Yet, despite his Hammersmith upbringing, the mercurial winger has chosen to represent France owing to his French-Algerian mother. In turn Olise is set to light up the capital of his adopted home at the Paris Olympics.
Despite an injury-hit season, Olise elevated his game to establish himself as one of the best attackers in Europe. While his elegance, dribbling and wand of a left foot have always been admired, Olise’s end product needed to improve. Last season he showed that his output was amongst the best in the world. 10 goals and 6 assists from just 12 starts for a Crystal Palace side that until Oliver Glasner’s February arrival, were loitering near the foot of the table and almost entirely reliant on a moment of inspiration from Olise and his left boot.
Surprisingly overlooked from France’s lacklustre Euro 2024 campaign, (where they only scored four goals in the entire tournament), Olise will be out to prove why his omission from the squad was such a rueful decision from Didier Deschamps. A shoo-in on the right hand-side of Thierry Henry’s exciting attack, expect Olise to link-up with former Eagles teammate Jean Phillipe-Mateta (above) in devastating fashion. Ahead of a move to Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, Olise is set to be one of the best players of the tournament in Paris.
Eliesse Ben Seghir (19) – Morocco
While Michael Olise’s decision to turn out for France remains a huge coup for the future of Les Bleus, losing Gassin-born-and-bred Eliesse Ben Seghir to Morocco is a major blow, such is the striker’s talent.
A product of the Monaco academy, Ben Seghir spectacularly announced himself to the world two years ago. On his debut, aged only 17, he scored twice versus Auxerre, with the second goal being particularly special. He glided off the left-wing and jinked inside a defender, before unleashing a beautiful curling strike from 20 yards that nestled in the top corner. The performance saw immediate comparisons made to a certain former Monaco teenager: Kylian Mbappe, and even the great Thierry Henry.
Henry could have even found himself managing the prodigious talent at a home Olympics, but earlier this year, Ben Seghir made the switch to represent Morocco, where he found the net in only his third cap for the Atlas Lions in a World Cup Qualifier against Zambia.
Yet, since his exceptional debut Ben Seghir has failed to truly kick on. A spate of injuries last season saw him miss 41 games and restricted him to only four starts across all competitions.
Nonetheless, when he is fit and firing he is a truly special talent. The best time to remind people of his ability is at an Olympic games in the country of his birth.
Linda Caicedo (19) – Colombia
With everything she has overcome and already achieved in the women’s game it is hard to believe that Linda Caicedo is still somehow only 19 years old. One thing for certain however, is that she is amongst the most exciting names in football.
While her first full season at Real Madrid was promising, it is on the international stage where the teenager has really thrived. After making her Colombia debut at only 14 years old, three years later, aged 17, Caicedo lit up the Copa América Femenina, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and leading Colombia all the way to the final, where they were beaten by Brazil on home soil. What’s even more impressive is that Caicedo had only been cancer-free for under two years having recovered from Ovarian cancer at 15.
Only a year later she was once again lighting up another major tournament for Las Cafeteras. At the 2022 World Cup she became the second youngest South-American to score in the tournament in Colombia’s first group game, with only Brazilian legend Marta achieving the feat at a younger age. She would go on to score again in Sydney in the following match. Against heavy favourites Germany, Caicedo collected the ball on the edge of the box, danced past two hapless defenders, before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the top right corner. This goal would win her another accolade for best goal of the tournament, while it was also nominated for a Puskás Award as one of the best goals of the calendar year across both the men and women’s game.
Colombia’s opening match against hosts France promises fireworks, and you can always count on Caicedo against all odds, to deliver on the biggest stage.
Claudio Echeverri (18) – Argentina
Much has been made of Javier Mascherano’s inclusion of last month’s Copa América winners: Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi and Geronimo Rulli in his Olympic squad. Yet, Argentina’s path to a third gold medal, and a third consecutive major tournament victory, may instead lie with a player who has never represented La Albiceleste at senior level and has under 30 club appearances in the men’s game. Meet Claudio Echeverri.
Nicknamed “El Diablito” ("Little Devil") owing to his “devilish” dribbling, pace and trickery, the diminutive Echeverri had already secured a move to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City before he had registered his first senior goal. While glimpses of his boundless potential have been on display for River Plate over the past two years, Echeverri truly made his name with Argentina’s under-17 side, for whom he has 12 goals from 23 appearances. His highlights include star turns in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he won the Bronze Boot, and in the South American U-17 Championship, where he scored five times, including a hat-trick against bitter rivals Brazil in a famous 3-0 victory.
While Argentina may not be the overwhelming favourites for a Gold medal in Paris, Echeverri will no doubt be a bright spark to keep an eye on before he links up with his teammates in Manchester, later this summer. When Argentina last won Gold in the football in Beijing 16 years ago, the winning goal was scored by their number 11, Ángel Di Maria. With Echeverri donning the same number, if Argentina go all the way to the final, don’t be surprised to see history repeat itself in the French capital.
Aitana Bonmatí (26) – Spain
Already one of the greatest female players in history at only 26 years of age, and with an elegance unlike anyone in the women’s game, Aitana Bonmatí will be hard to miss in Paris.
The Barcelona superstar has won almost everything in the game: a FIFA Best Award, a Ballon d’Or, a World Cup Golden Ball and even a Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year for 2024. Not to mention the team awards she has accumulated as part of a phenomenal Barcelona side: five consecutive league titles, three champions leagues, as well as a World Cup with Spain last year. Bonmatí is undoubtedly one of the most decorated sportswomen ever. However, the one elusive accolade from her vast trophy collection remains an Olympic medal, with Spain failing to qualify for the Games in Tokyo four years ago.
In Paris, the pressure will be on the defending world-champions to go all the way and they are certainly one of the favourites for the Gold medal. With players like Bonmatí in the middle of the park, it is not hard to see why. Yet another accolade in Paris would surely elevate her into the conversation, as possibly the greatest female player in history.
Caleb Wiley (19) – USA
After a bitterly disappointing campaign on home soil at this year’s Copa América, pressure is building on the United States, with their home World Cup under two years away. With perhaps their most talented team in their history of the sport, it is imperative that the US deliver on the globe’s biggest stage in 2026. In Paris, expectations will be significantly lower but that is not to say that they do not deserve our attention. In fact, they may have a superstar in the making at left-back. Enter Caleb Wiley.
After scoring on his MLS debut aged 17, and making his senior debut for the US national team at 18, Wiley’s rise has been mightily impressive. In his short career he has already racked up 77 appearances in America’s top division, as well as registering 12 attacking returns in that time. A highlights-reel of impressive attacking and defensive actions, including a rasping 30-yard drive following a trademark marauding run from deep against Philadelphia Union, was enough to impress Todd Boehly’s Chelsea, and earlier this week he put pen to paper on a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
While some have scoffed at the move to England's capital so early on in his fledgling career, a mooted loan move to Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg can provide Wiley with a European baptism of fire. If he thrives there, it may catapult him to the front of the queue as Chelsea’s first-choice left-back, given the Blues’ recent struggles with that position. However, the sternest test will no doubt first come with Wednesday’s opening match, where Wiley will line-up directly opposite the aforementioned Michael Olise. Stopping the Frenchman will be key to the US staging any kind of upset, and thus Wiley’s performance will be integral in deciding the course of the match.
Álex Baena (23) – Spain
Alongside Barcelona’s Fermin López, Álex Baena will be looking to make history as the first players ever to win the Euros, and an Olympic title in the same summer. While they were on the peripheries of Luis de la Fuente’s victorious Spanish side (with a combined 53 minutes on the pitch in Germany) both players are set for starring roles in Paris.
Unlike Lopez whose progression has been through the fabled La Masia Academy, Baena’s route to international football was a lot more unconventional. Beginning his career at his local side Roquetas, aged 10, he moved over 500km from his Andalusian home to Villareal, where he has remained ever since. Yet, this does not mean it has always been smooth sailing with the Yellow Submarine. Having turned out for the Villareal C and B sides, he had only made seven Spanish top-flight appearances at Lopez’s age.
However, after breaking through into the first-team in the 2022-23 season, following Marcelino’s appointment, Baena cemented himself as one of the first names on the team-sheet, and as one of the most influential players La Liga. Registering 17 assists in all competitions and a league-high 14 domestically, Baena’s game intelligence, weight of pass and dead-ball delivery has seen him emerge as one of the most exciting playmakers in world football at only 23 years of age. Alongside an exciting Spanish attack of the aforementioned Fermin and Atletico Madrid’s Samu Omorodion, expect Spain to score plenty of goals in Paris, no doubt with Baena at the heart of it.
