PSG wonderkid Mbaye emerges as African World Cup record-breaker — but will Senegal boss hand him a start vs. Norway?

Paris Saint-Germain wonderkid Ibrahim Mbaye made World Cup history on Tuesday night, becoming the youngest African goalscorer in the tournament's history with a stunning cameo against France — and his performance has left Senegal boss Pape Thiaw facing a significant selection headache ahead of their crucial Group I clash with Norway.

Beaten 3-1 by France in their opening World Cup fixture, Senegal were left with genuine regrets. 'We could have led 2-0,' lamented boss Thiaw in the post-match press conference, referencing Nicolas Jackson's effort against the post and Ismaila Sarr's glorious miss in the first half.

After the interval, Senegal dropped physically at the very moment France stepped up a gear, inspired by a devastating Michael Olise whose perfectly-weighted pass cut through five defenders in one movement to find Kylian Mbappe for the opening goal.

Mbaye becomes youngest African scorer in World Cup history

While Thiaw does not have players of France's calibre throughout his squad, he does have genuine talent to call upon — not least Paris Saint-Germain gem Ibrahim Mbaye.

Introduced in the 75th minute, the Paris-born starlet was nothing short of sensational. The teenager has pace and flair in abundance and caused France real problems down the left flank. On one dazzling run, a superb sequence of step-overs left Theo Hernandez on the floor before Mbaye fired past Mike Maignan to reduce the deficit to 2-1. That strike made history: at 18 years and 143 days old, he became the youngest Senegalese and African scorer in the history of the World Cup.

In the closing moments, with Mbappe having restored France's two-goal lead with his second of the night, Mbaye went again down the same side, almost forcing Aurelien Tchouameni into an own goal that Maignan only just managed to prevent.

None of this will surprise Senegal supporters who watched him dazzle at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, where he ended the tournament with a goal — the youngest scorer at the competition in the 21st century — an assist and a penalty won, rapidly becoming one of the fans' favourites.

Will boss Thiaw hand Mbaye a start against Norway?

Following Tuesday's performance, and with Ismaila Sarr having distinguished himself largely through his wastefulness — most notably the glaring chance he squandered before making way for his young team-mate — the question of a potential start for Mbaye now hangs over Senegal's decisive Group I fixture against Norway on the night of June 22-23.

'I do not want to single out specific players — collectively, we were too passive,' deflected Thiaw in his post-match conference. Starting Mbaye from the beginning would of course be a gamble for a player who has never started a senior competitive international. Many supporters feel it would be a gamble worth taking for a boss who is not short of attacking options, but who waited until the 85th minute to bring on a player of Iliman Ndiaye's quality, by which point Senegal were already two goals down.