Mbappe steals the show as France sink Senegal
by Kickoff Reporter · KickOffFrance enjoyed a winning start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup after defeating Senegal 3-1 in their Group I opener on Tuesday evening.
Fixture: France v Senegal
Score: 3-1
Goalscorers: Mbappe (66', 90+6'), Barcola (82')
The two nations were meeting at the World Cup for the first since the famous opening game in 2002, where the Lions of Teranga secured a 1-0 win over then defending champions enroute to reaching the quarter-finals.
It took a while for the game to get going but Senegal did not allow the French to settle in the early stages, as the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Ismaila Sarr did well to stretch the opposition defenders while Les Blues were unable to trouble at the other end.
The game's first big chance arrived on 25 minutes when Jackson managed to break free down the left side of the box before unleashing a powerful strike that crashed against the upright, before ricocheting off goalkeeper Mike Maignan and sailing out.
While France struggled to carve out any openings, Senegal passed up a major chance on the stroke of halftime when Sadio Mane weaved his way into the box before sending a cross to the far post for Sarr, who blazed over the crossbar from six-yards out.
Second Half:
The French looked rejuvenated in the second period and managed to carve out their first big chance seven minutes in when Michael Olse surged into the area to go clear on goal, but he was denied by Senegal goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, who came up with another save minutes later to deny Mbappe in a one-on-one situation.
There was a controversial moment on the hour mark when Mbappe went down under the challenge from Krépin Diatta. The referee was asked to check the incident on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) monitor, but stuck with his initial decision not to award the spot-kick, much to the surprise of the French technical team.
However, Mbappe got his reward a couple minutes later when he latched onto a superb through-ball from Olise before firing past Mendy to open his account in the competition, while bringing up his 57th goal for the national side to become the team's joint all-time leading scorer with Olivier Giroud.
France would go on to seal the win with eight minutes left on the clock when Adrien Rabiot threaded a neat pass for substitute Bradley Barcola, who took it in his stride before lobbing the advancing Mendy 90 seconds after coming on for Ousmane Dembele.
There would be time for Senegal to bag a consolation through Ibrahim Mbaye's powerful strike in the 95th minute, however Mbappe made the points safe a minute later when he picked up a loose ball and sent a superb strike into the top corner.
Next Fixtures:
France:
1. Iraq
2. Norway
Senegal:
1. Norway
2. Iraq