Group I of the 2026 FIFA World Cup opened its slate with a thrilling encounter at the New York New Jersey Stadium, where four-time world champions France eventually secured a 3-1 win over a Senegal side that defied underdog expectations to push the title holders to the final whistle.
From the opening kickoff, Senegal’s attacking unit led by Sadio Mané made their intentions clear: they had come to compete and advance, not just make up the numbers. The African side poured forward immediately, catching France cold in the opening minutes and forcing Les Bleus to drop deep into a defensive shell to avoid falling behind early. It took France nearly 10 full minutes to find their footing in the match, as Senegal’s press repeatedly cut off their build-up play before it could threaten.
The first clear chance of the game came just two minutes in, when Theo Hernández was forced to clear a dangerous Senegal cross over his own goal line to prevent an opening score. France mustered their first shot on goal in the 18th minute, courtesy of Ousmane Dembélé, but the effort failed to test Senegal’s goalkeeper Édouard Mendy.
Senegal came inches from taking the lead in the 25th minute: Nicolas Jackson’s shot ricocheted off the goalpost, bounced off French goalkeeper Mike Maignan, and rolled toward the goal line before somehow staying out. On the stroke of halftime, Mané cut the ball back from the byline to Ismaïla Sarr, but Sarr fired his close-range effort over the crossbar. Senegal was the far sharper side for the entire first half, but wasteful finishing from Jackson and Sarr kept the scores level at 0-0 going into the break, with Australian referee Alireza Faghani overseeing the encounter.
France emerged from halftime a transformed side, finally committing numbers forward and showing the attacking bite expected of defending champions. Désiré Doué had the first chance of the second half in the 48th minute, but his shot drifted just wide of the post. Four minutes later, Michael Olise broke through on goal, only for a quick reaction from Mendy to deny what looked like a certain opening goal.
Minutes later, Kylian Mbappé broke into the Senegal penalty area only to be stopped once again by the Senegalese shot-stopper. Just after the hour mark, Mbappé appealed for a penalty after a challenge in the box, but the review ruled out any spot kick. In the 64th minute, Mbappé ran onto a through ball from Olise and again was denied by Mendy, but two minutes later, the French star finally got the better of the keeper. Finishing a well-worked pass from Olise, Mbappé slotted home to put France ahead 1-0.
Senegal did not create another dangerous chance until the 79th minute, when Jackson again failed to convert a good opportunity into a goal. In the 82nd minute, French substitute Bradley Barcola doubled France’s lead, collecting a deep through ball from Adrien Rabiot and chipping it over the onrushing Mendy to put Les Bleus up 2-0. Shortly after, Mbappé had a golden chance to put the game to bed from an Olise pass inside the box, but he missed the chance to extend the lead.
That miss set up a late scare for France: in the fourth minute of stoppage time, substitute Ibrahim Mbaye cut the deficit to 2-1 with a clinical solo finish, setting up a frantic final minute of play. But just 60 seconds later, Mbappé sealed the three points for France with a spectacular long-range strike from outside the penalty area, putting the final score at 3-1 and getting France’s 2026 World Cup campaign off to a winning start.