Juan Carlos Maygua
France and Senegal opened Group I in New York / New Jersey, and the former world champions eventually looked the part after a shaky first half. France arrived with a loaded squad, led by Kylian Mbappe, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Aurelien Tchouameni, Jules Kounde, and Desire Doue.
On paper, the matchup always looked like France’s attack against Senegal’s defensive structure. Senegal had Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy anchoring the back line, and the goal was simple enough: survive the opener, steal a result if possible, and give themselves a cleaner path through the rest of the group.
Senegal made France work early
The game had two very different versions of France. Whether it was early miscommunication or Senegal reading the setup well, Senegal created a dangerous chance inside the first minute and made it clear this would not be a walk-through.
Both teams tried to build through the wings. France leaned on Olise, Dembele, and Doue to connect with Mbappe up front, but not much came from him in the first 45 minutes. He was quieter than expected, picking his spots and waiting for the right runs instead of forcing the issue.
A turnover by Mbappe opened Senegal’s best first-half chance around the 25th minute, but Nicolas Jackson could not capitalize. Ismaila Sarr also had a golden look in stoppage time and missed the target, which felt huge in the moment and even bigger once France settled down.
France took control after halftime
The second half changed quickly. Olise had a long-range chance in the 52nd minute, and that alone hinted at a different French approach. Two minutes later, Mendy came up big in a one-on-one chance against Mbappe.
France was in control by then, and it started to feel like a goal was coming. Mbappe opened the scoring in the 66th minute after Olise slipped a pass into space, and from there, the match tilted heavily toward the French side.
Senegal did create another close call through Jackson, but the momentum had already shifted. Bradley Barcola sealed the match in the 82nd minute, giving the young forward a perfect start to his World Cup shortly after coming off the bench.
A record day for Mbappe
Senegal still pulled one back through Ibrahim Mbaye, who placed a powerful shot past Mike Maignan. The response gave Senegal something to take from the match, but it did not last long as the main story.
Mbappe added his second goal in the final minute of stoppage time, turning the result into a 3-1 France win and becoming the country’s all-time leading goal scorer with 58 goals in 99 appearances. Not a bad way to start a tournament.
The victory puts France right back among the tournament favorites, even after a questionable first half. With Denmark and Erling Haaland also getting a positive result, Group I may be the one group that played out closest to expectation on opening day.
The third-place race between Senegal and Iraq is still worth watching. Both teams showed enough quality to make things uncomfortable later, but France already gave the group its first real reminder: once the talent starts rolling, there are only so many teams built to stop it.
