France began their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with an important 3-1 victory over Senegal in a Group I match played on Tuesday in the United States.
France captain Kylian Mbappé was the standout performer, scoring twice to secure three valuable points for his side. The victory places France in a strong position as they look to qualify for the knockout stage at an early stage of the tournament.
Despite the result, Senegal controlled much of the first half. Their attackers created several clear chances through Sadio Mané, Nicolas Jackson, and Ismaïla Sarr, but they were unable to convert those opportunities in front of goal.
After the break, France returned with renewed intensity. Mbappé opened the scoring in the 66th minute after finishing a well-worked move created by Michael Olise. The goal lifted the French side and gave them greater confidence going forward.
In the 82nd minute, Bradley Barcola added a second goal for France and appeared to put the game beyond Senegal’s reach. However, Senegal refused to give up and pulled one back through Ibrahim Mbaye deep into stoppage time.
Senegal’s hopes of a comeback were short-lived. Moments later, Mbappé struck again with a powerful long-range effort to seal a 3-1 victory for the 2018 world champions.
Beyond securing the win, Mbappé’s two goals saw him become France’s all-time leading scorer with 58 international goals, surpassing Olivier Giroud. He also moved to 14 career World Cup goals, placing himself among the tournament’s greatest scorers.
With the result, France take an early lead in the race for qualification from Group I, while Senegal must now seek positive results in their upcoming matches against Norway and Iraq to keep their hopes of advancing alive.
