France began their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Senegal at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with Kylian Mbappe stealing the spotlight with a brace that made the 27-year-old Les Bleus' all-time leading goalscorer and lifted him into joint third on the FIFA World Cup's all-time scoring chart.
The final scoreline did not reflect Senegal's dominance for much of the opening half. The African side repeatedly troubled France's defence, with Nicolas Jackson striking the post before seeing another effort ruled out for offside. Ismaila Sarr then squandered a golden opportunity on the stroke of half-time, firing over from close range after being picked out by Sadio Mane.
France gradually grew into the contest after the break and thought they had a penalty in the 60th minute when Mbappe went down under a challenge from Mane inside the area. However, after a lengthy VAR review, the referee waved away the appeals, ruling that Mbappe had initiated the contact.
The breakthrough finally arrived six minutes later. Michael Olise slipped a precise through ball into the box and Mbappe met it with a first-time finish beyond Édouard Mendy to give Les Bleus the lead. The goal saw the France captain draw level with Olivier Giroud's national record of 57 international goals.
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Didier Deschamps' substitutions paid immediate dividends in the closing stages. Bradley Barcola, introduced from the bench, doubled France's advantage in the 82nd minute after latching onto Adrien Rabiot's perfectly weighted pass and lifting the ball over Mendy with a delicate chip.
Senegal refused to surrender and set up a nervy finish when 18-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye burst through the French defence and scored in stoppage time. Any hopes of a comeback, though, lasted barely a minute.
Straight from the restart, Mbappe collected the ball around 30 yards from goal, turned sharply and unleashed a thunderous strike into the corner to restore France's two-goal cushion. The spectacular effort sealed the victory, took him to 58 international goals and moved him past Giroud as France's outright leading scorer.
The brace also lifted Mbappe to 14 FIFA World Cup goals, drawing him level with Germany great Gerd Muller in joint third place on the tournament's all-time scoring chart.
There was still time for late drama as Mike Maignan produced a stunning goal-line save in the closing seconds after Aurélien Tchouaméni almost diverted the ball into his own net, ensuring France opened their World Cup campaign with all three points.
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