After the resounding victory of Germany against Curaçao, the second win of a European powerhouse arrived. In a match that would prove complex from the start but would later unravel, France defeated Senegal 3-1 in their debut at the 2026 World Cup, corresponding to the first matchday of Group I.
The match would start extremely evenly, with both teams constantly going back and forth between the two areas, but without clear opportunities to break the 0. In that context, it was only at 24 minutes that the West African team would have their first dangerous chance: Nicolas Jackson would counter down the wing and unleash a powerful left-footed shot in the area that would hit the left post and then the goalkeeper Mike Maignan before going out for a corner.
Beyond a controversial stomp by William Saliba on Ismaïla Sarr that was not penalized even with a yellow card, it would not be until the last minute of added time in the first half that there would be another incident. After a great individual play by Sadio Mané on the left side of the area, which would end in a cross that previously deflected off Jackson, the ball would fall to Sarr, who would shoot very high from under the goal.
In the second half, France would start to show a bit more bite, first with a shot from Désiré Doué that would go close to the left post of Edouard Mendy and later with a shot from Michael Olise and another from Kylian Mbappé, both neutralized by the Senegalese goalkeeper.
Even the French would be close to getting a penalty for a presumed foul by Mané on the Real Madrid number 10, although, after a VAR review, the Australian referee Alireza Faghani would not call anything.
Finally, at 65, the long-awaited first goal for Didier Deschamps' team would arrive: Olise would send a precise pass to Mbappé at the edge of the small area and the forward would unleash a cross-shot that Mendy could not contain for the 1-0. Immediately after suffering the goal, Senegal would equalize thanks to Jackson, but it would be disallowed for a clear offside prior.
Although they would try to equalize the match, "The Lions of Teranga" no longer had the same presence on the field as in the first half and would suffer greatly from their opponent's approaches. In that sense, between the need to equalize and the French pressure, they would start to leave gaps in defense that "Les Blues" would exploit to increase the lead. At 82, moments after entering, Bradley Barcola would receive an exquisite assist on the run from Adrien Rabiot and would chip it over Mendy for the 2-0.
When everything seemed settled, the Africans would manage to pull one back at the end thanks to a goal from Ibrahim Mbaye that would give them a glimmer of hope, although it would quickly be completely extinguished. A minute later, Mbappé would unleash a lethal strike from outside the area to make it 3-1, which could have been 3-2 if not for Maignan who saved on the line what would have been an own goal by Aurélien Tchouaméni.
After this victory, France will seek to secure their qualification for the next round against Iraq next Monday, June 22 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Senegal will try to recover against Norway on the same day and at the same stadium where they played today, the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
