Michael Olise now holds a record that belonged to Pelé for more than half a century. The French winger recorded his seventh assist of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, surpassing the Brazilian legend’s mark of six assists set during the iconic 1970 tournament in Mexico.
A record 55 years in the making
Pelé’s 1970 World Cup performance is widely considered one of the greatest individual tournament runs in football history. Brazil won every game, scored 19 goals, and Pelé orchestrated much of the attack with six assists. That number stood untouched through 13 subsequent World Cups.
Olise, who plays club football for Bayern Munich, had already turned heads earlier in the tournament by racking up five assists in just four matches. That pace hadn’t been seen since 1994.
The 2026 World Cup is the first to feature 48 teams, expanded from the traditional 32-team format. More teams means more matches, which naturally inflates counting stats across the board. Hosted across Canada, Mexico, and the United States, this tournament was always going to produce bigger numbers.
Where crypto enters the pitch
Olise’s breakout performances have coincided with notable spikes in trading activity around football fan tokens and NFTs. In particular, tokens associated with Paris Saint-Germain have seen increased volume, fueled by speculation that Olise could be headed to the French capital in a potential transfer.
Fan tokens are digital assets issued by sports clubs, usually on platforms like Socios or Chiliz, that give holders voting rights on minor club decisions and access to exclusive content. They tend to move on sentiment, and few things generate sentiment like a player lighting up the World Cup.
What investors should actually watch
Fan token prices tend to be highly reactive to news cycles and revert relatively quickly once the catalyst fades. If Olise’s tournament ends or if transfer speculation cools, expect volume to follow.
If a transfer to PSG actually happens, the token associated with the club could see a more sustained move as fans price in the acquisition of a star player. But fan token markets are thin by crypto standards, which means volatility cuts both ways.
Platforms like Chiliz, which powers many fan token ecosystems, stand to benefit from increased overall activity regardless of which specific club token is trending.