Cape Verde Extend World Cup 2026 Run as Messi, Mbappé and Haaland Return

Q: With Olise hailed as the creative engine, how must captain Kylian Mbappé adapt his role in the team?

Mbappé must become more of a decisive end-point than the team’s main orchestrator, using Olise’s creativity to sharpen his impact in the penalty area and in transition. The tactical shift against Senegal showed the outline clearly. With Olise moved inside as a No. 10 and Dembélé restored to the wing, France gained a true central creator. Olise then supplied both of Mbappé’s goals, underlining that Mbappé no longer needs to carry the same creative burden in every attack. Instead, he can focus on timing runs behind the defense, attacking channels and finishing moves at speed. That adaptation also requires Mbappé to be more fluid off the ball. If Olise is the creative engine, Mbappé must read his passing earlier, vary his movement across the front line and combine more cleanly in quick interchanges rather than always dropping deep to dictate play himself. France’s strength is now the possibility of constant rotation between Olise, Dembélé and Mbappé, which can destabilize defensive structures. This does not reduce Mbappé’s status; it refines it. He remains the captain and primary scorer, but in a system where Olise is supplying the imagination, Mbappé’s most valuable role is to be ruthless, mobile and available for the final action. If that partnership develops, France’s attack becomes harder to predict and far more dangerous.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 22

Cape Verde stayed alive in their remarkable World Cup 2026 campaign as attention also shifted to the return of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
France’s attacking setup offered one reason Mbappé’s return matters: Michael Olise drifted inside against Senegal, freeing Ousmane Dembélé on the wing and adding more fluidity to Didier Deschamps’ front line.
That tweak suggested France may finally have a more flexible way to use their elite forwards, with different opponents allowing Olise, Dembélé and Mbappé to interchange rather than hold rigid roles.
The broader picture is a tournament day mixing an underdog story in Cape Verde with the re-entry of three of the game’s biggest stars.