There's a soccer player called Erling Haaland who's taken the attention of pop culture. He's from Norway, and has been a star in international soccer since he was like 18 or 19. He's really tall (for a soccer player) and funny looking, but in a cutesy, nonthreatening way, with long hair but an undercut and usually a ponytail. He has a girlfriend. He does random young guy things that the internet world shares and likes, such as having a dog, carrying a designer bag, whatever. And some actual news, like he bought some old viking saga book for $120k to donate to his hometown, even though he's never been a reader he wants people to be able to learn about the place he's from. It's not like Beckham thing of the early 00s, where his looks also played a huge role and girls everywhere, even Japan, all loved Beckham more than basically any other public figure.
There's also a French soccer player who is considered the best in the world, Mbappe, but he doesn't have the star appeal Haaland seems to have. Also, Mbappe is maybe the best around right now, with Christiano and Messi past their primes but still doing well, but he's not great compared even with other Frenchies of this century. Most consider Zidane still the best French player ever.