France 3-1 Senegal: Kylian Mbappe makes history as Les Bleus get off to a winning start at the 2026 World Cup

France exercised the demons of 2002 by defeating Senegal 3-1 on Tuesday, as the two-time champions began World Cup 2026 on a positive note.

A second-half brace from captain Kylian Mbappe and a strike by Bradley Barcola enabled the French to win their opening group fixture in the finals for a fourth consecutive occasion.

Kylian Mbappe makes history

Fresh off a hat trick in his last World Cup match in that epic 2022 final versus Argentina, Kylian Mbappe put himself in the history books on Tuesday.

The Real Madrid man’s 66th-minute strike was his 57th for the national team across all competitions, drawing even with Olivier Giroud for the most all-time with France.

In stoppage time, Mbappe ended Senegal's hopes of a comeback, smashing home his 58th goal in a French shirt to become the record goalscorer for Les Bleus and temporarily put his team on top of the Group I standings with three points.

That thumping long-range strike was the 14th of his World Cup carees, surpassing Just Fontaine for the most ever by a French player in the finals.

The late French striker netted all of his goals in one World Cup, bagging a baker’s dozen in the 1958 World Cup, which is still to this day, the most by one player in this competition.

Mbappe’s 14 goals temporarily put him ahead of Argentina’s skipper, Lionel Messi.

That is until Messi scored a hat trick against Algeria to draw even with Miroslav Klose for the most all-time.

Messi is in his sixth World Cup with Mbappe playing in his third finals.

The 2022 World Cup Golden Boot is even with German legend Gerd Muller, the top goalscorer at the 1970 finals.

Mbappe can move into a tie with two-time world champion and former Golden Boot winner Ronaldo with his next goal.

A tale of two halves

While the French had won their opening match in each of their previous three finals under Didier Deschamps, they were far from impressive in the first half against the Senegalese.

The opening 45 minutes in New Jersey was a far cry from the French side many had expected to see, with most believing they had an embarrassment of riches to choose from.

None of those quality players showed their capabilities in half number one, as the Lions of Teranga rarely looked under duress.

The combination plays and creativity from Les Bleus were nearly invisible for long stretches of the match.

After 45 minutes of play, France had managed just one shot, their lowest total in a World Cup group stage match since Opta began analysing the competition in 1966.

Kylian Mbappe was virtually played out of the match in the opening half, with the service from France’s creative players incredibly poor.

When the French skipper had the ball early on, Senegal defenders were right there to dispossess him, as the finalists of the last two World Cups looked out of sorts for a long time.

In the second half we saw a whole new French team, whose tempo increased dramatically as they put together some fine, quick-passing plays.

A controversial non-penalty call seemed to be the tonic Deschamps' side needed, as referee Alireza Faghani deemed that Mbappe initiated contact when Sadio Mane brought him down in the box.

Just a few minutes later, Mbappe found the mark, thanks to a clever ball from Michael Olise, which the former buried into the corner corner beyond the reach of French-born goalkeeper and former Chelsea number one, Edouard Mendy.

After that the French fluidity and passing became too much for Senegal to contain, as the third-ranked team in the world began to dominate.

A couple of minutes after replacing 2025 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Barcola doubled the advantage, chipping Mendy after being put through on goal by Adrien Rabiot.

Ibrahim Mbaye gave the Africans a glimmer of hope with a consolation effort on 94 minutes, his second for the national team this year and fifth all-time.

That optimism was short-lived though as Mbappe hammered home a long-range strike, seconds after the kickoff, to put the match to bed.

Senegal will rue some missed chances

For a while, it appeared as though lightning might strike twice for Senegal against the French at the World Cup.

Just over 24 years after the late Papa Bouba Diop’s shocking goal lifted Senegal to a 1-0 victory over France, a Bayern Munich midfielder could have done the same.

Nicolas Jackson had some great scoring opportunities throughout the match for the Africans at MetLife Stadium, the site of the World Cup final next month.

After a needless giveaway by the French in the opening half, Jackson nearly punished them, catching their defence out, but his effort struck the near post and bounced off Mike Maignan for a corner.

He was close to finishing a couple of other chances in the French area in the second half but was ultimately lacking a bit of precision and decisiveness.

Jackson mistimed a run in the latter stages with his side down a goal, which looked like a real opportunity for his team to draw level against Les Bleus.

A few minutes later, France went up by two with Barcola's speed too much for the Senegal defence to handle.

In the end, Pape Thiaw’s men fell short, losing their opening World Cup fixture for a second successive occasion.

Didier Deschamps’ half-time tweak changed everything

He’s leaving at the end of this World Cup, but Deschamps is still working tirelessly to make tactical adjustments and give his side an edge.

He made a tactical shift at the interval, which seemed to breathe new life into his team throughout the second half.

Moving Olise into a central position worked wonders, as France looked much more dangerous with the Bayern Munich man in that area.

The former Crystal Palace midfielder, playing in his first World Cup, was much more on point and precise in the final 45 minutes.

His movement and distribution changed the complexion of a match that, which for the first 45 minutes, looked to be trending into a dull 0-0 result.

Olise looked more comfortable operating in a more central position and began to dictate play after the interval, finding his front players in space, and looking much more like the Bundesliga Player of the Season we saw in 2025-26.

Deschamps has now won all four of his opening matches at the World Cup as French boss, while he also captained them to a 3-0 victory over South Africa to kick off the 1998 finals, his only one as a player.

If his team plays as it did in the final 45 minutes, there is a good chance the former Marseille boss can become only the second coach to capture two World Cup titles, after Vittorio Pozzo.