Loud laughter at Michael Olise’s expense: Marcus Thuram and Kylian Mbappé mock the FC Bayern star

A video from the French national team’s World Cup training camp is creating a buzz, with Michael Olise at the centre of the action.

The FC Bayern Munich forward must endure some good-natured ribbing from his two international teammates, Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan) and Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid).

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“When Thuram imitates Olise. Wait for Michael’s reaction at the end,” reads the caption of the video posted by Les Bleus on their Instagram channel. Before a training session, Olise is sitting next to Mbappé a short distance from the pitch when the Real Madrid star points out Thuram’s antics a few metres away.

The former Gladbach man has draped a towel-like object—possibly a cold pack—across his face. That detail echoes Olise’s own penchant for covering up: at FC Bayern, he has frequently been spotted before matches with his cap pulled low over his features. Before the Champions League semi-final first leg against PSG, he had even appeared in a scarf wrapped around his neck, covering his mouth so that only his eyes showed.

“Who’s that?” Thuram shouts over to Mbappé, then briefly examines the training pitch’s turf. After a few seconds he returns and bursts into laughter; Mbappé soon follows suit.

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Thuram and Mbappé are in fits of laughter, while Olise can muster only a weary smile.

Thuram and Mbappé are in fits of laughter, while Olise can muster only a weary smile.

Background: Olise had already drawn attention at Bayern on several occasions with his extremely quick pre-match pitch inspections. True to his laid-back nature, he would test the surface—often with his cap pulled low over his face—only briefly before moving on.

So when teammates Thuram and Mbappé ribbed him about it, the FCB winger simply offered a weary smile and a shake of the head.

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Can Olise, Mbappé and the rest of Les Bleus guide France to a third World Cup triumph?

Can Olise, Mbappé and the rest of Les Bleus guide France to a third World Cup triumph?

Olise, who won the domestic double—the league title and the DFB-Pokal—with Bayern last term, is now preparing for the 2026 World Cup with the French national team at the national training centre in Clairefontaine. The Ballon d’Or nominee is poised to play a key role in the USA, Mexico and Canada, where Les Bleus are among the top favourites and are eyeing a third World Cup crown after 1998 and 2018.

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Les Bleus boast a formidable front line spearheaded by Olise, Kylian Mbappé and PSG colleague Ousmane Dembélé, while the likes of Thuram, PSG pair Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola, and Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki provide further firepower capable of unsettling any defence.

Before travelling to North America, Les Bleus will fine-tune their form with two home friendlies: against Ivory Coast, Germany’s group rivals, in Nantes on 4 June, and versus Northern Ireland in Lille four days later. France then begins its World Cup campaign on 16 June against Senegal; with the Africans and Norway – home to superstar Erling Haaland – Les Bleus are widely regarded as being in the tournament’s toughest group. Iraq, the second opponent on 22 June, are clear underdogs, while the group stage wraps up against Norway on 26 June.

Michael Olise: His international career for France to date

International debut

6 September 2024, 1–3 vs. Italy (Nations League)

International matches

15

International goals

4

First international goal

23 March 2025 (Nations League vs. Croatia, 7–4 a.e.t.)