World Cup 2026 | Thomas Frank watches as a trainer: surprises Diomande and Oulai, praise for Messi, Vitinha and Olise

Thomas Frank has loved the world championship since Mexico '86, but nowadays he mainly looks at it through the eyes of a trainer. The Dane enjoys the emotion and spectacle in the stands - with fans from Scotland, Norway and the Netherlands, among others - but mainly sees patterns, tactical trends and player profiles on the field.

According to Frank, nothing remains as valuable as observing players live. That already gave him two names from Ivory Coast in this tournament. Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig) is “the talk of the town”. Frank says he already followed him when Diomande played for Leganés and he himself was at Brentford. Now he saw him for 90 minutes against Germany and, as he describes it, got to see everything from the midfielder. He prefers to store those impressions “on the hard drive” in his head, above clips and data.

The second Ivorian who surprised him positively is Christ Inao Oulai (Trabzonspor). Despite the defeat against Germany, Frank found his turning movements, forward play, mobility and technique remarkably strong. According to him, you can only get that kind of complete impression by following a player with your own eyes.

Frank acknowledges that his regular work mainly draws him to the Premier League and then the Champions League, meaning there are simply not enough hours in the day to see everything. That is precisely why he uses the World Cup to fully examine players in various contexts.


As a fan, Lionel Messi remains the attraction of this tournament for Frank. He wants to watch the Argentina-Austria match with his son and probably calls it Messi's last World Cup. The admiration remains great.

With the hat of manager on, Frank thinks differently. If he had to sign one player now, it would depend on the needs of his team - but his preference is for a unique midfielder. He likes Pedri (Spain/Barcelona), but calls Vitinha (Portugal/Paris Saint-Germain) exceptional at the moment. Frank saw him excel up close, including goals from distance, and speaks with admiration about his form.

Furthermore, Frank Michael Olise (Bayern Munich/France) moves forward. According to him, Brentford was once close to a transfer when Olise was still at Reading, before he opted for Crystal Palace. Frank has followed him closely since then and praises his work ethic, team orientation and decisive actions with his left leg. In France's opening match against Senegal, Olise was Frank's man of the match, even though Kylian Mbappé scored twice. According to him, Olise's through ball with the first goal typifies his class.

Frank decides that every World Cup has its surprises, but that a standout role for Olise would not be at all surprising to him.

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