There has been only one narrative about soccer cleats this World Cup, which is about why they are almost all pink. Nike, Adidas, and Puma, which dominate the cleat market, all released fuchsia models that pop against the grass. Players seemingly love them.
Nine of France’s starting 11 in their opening game with Senegal wore pink cleats. One of the dissenters was Michael Olise, who, in his white footwear, was having none of it.
Olise has had an unusual route to wearing the No. 10 shirt for Les Bleus. He grew up in west London, was on the books of several Premier League academies, and eventually signed professional terms with then-second-tier Reading. He excelled and was soon playing in the Premier League with Crystal Palace. In 2019, he settled on representing France (he was also eligible to play for England, Nigeria, and Algeria), and in 2024, he made a big-money move to Bayern Munich.
But since his Reading days, one thing has remained consistent. He has worn only one type of cleat: Nike’s Hypervenom III, which was made between 2017 and 2019. Now extremely hard to find, he has helpers who scour resale sites for unworn pairs.
He then sends these cleats to a man in Edinburgh to customize them perfectly. There, they land in the workshop of Ryan Park.
