Michael Olise is in scintillating form heading into the 2026 World Cup.
The Bayern Munich winger is heading into the summer off the back of an impressive season with the German champions and has taken that into the national team camp, scoring a hat-trick in France's 3-1 warm-up win against Northern Ireland in Lille.
Olise netted the first of his treble just before half-time, adding another just after the restart and sealing maiden international hat-trick with a trademark curling left-footed strike into the far top corner.
With France expected to go deep in the tournament, Olise has emerged as a frontrunner to win the Golden Ball award.
Handed to the best player at the tournament, the Golden Ball was first awarded in 1982, heading the way of Paolo Rossi after he spearheaded Italy's third World Cup win in Spain.
The likes of Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi (twice) have all scooped the award, making it one of the most prestigious across the footballing world.
Olise could certainly fit the bill of a Golden Ball winner going off past trends, too. All 11 winners have reached at least the semi-final stages, nine of the 11 scored at least three goals during the tournament and all but Oliver Kahn in 2002 played in either midfield or attack.
The former Crystal Palace forward has been one of the most productive players in Europe this season, racking up 52 goal contributions for Bayern in the same amount of games.
Harry Kane, a teammate of Olise's at Bayern, is the current favourite to win the award at 7/1, while fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappe is also prominent in the betting at 10/1.
World Cup Golden Ball odds
(Odds will display when market is available)
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.
