France held by Senegal in tense World Cup opener at MetLife Stadium

France’s opener against Senegal read like a test of legitimacy, not just a first step. At MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the two-time World Cup champions were pushed into a tense, level match by the 15th-ranked Senegal side, and the early evidence suggested Didier Deschamps still had work to do before his team could look like a fully tuned favorite.

The setting sharpened the stakes. This was a Group I opener at 3 p.m. ET, and it carried the weight of history because Senegal and France were meeting again after one of the World Cup’s defining shocks. Senegal stunned the defending champions 1-0 in Seoul in 2002, when Papa Bouba Diop scored in the 30th minute, and Senegal went on to reach the quarterfinals. That memory made every cautious French touch and every Senegalese break feel loaded with meaning.

France brought the star power expected of a contender. Kylian Mbappé entered the match four goals short of Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup scoring record, with Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise around him in attack. Yet the talent did not immediately translate into control. Senegal kept France at arm’s length for long stretches, forcing the French side to work harder than a title favorite would prefer in a tournament opener.

The numbers reflected a narrow French edge without much comfort. ESPN’s match page showed France with 54.2% possession to Senegal’s 45.8%, and France also led in shots. Even so, Senegal created dangerous moments of its own, most notably when Nicolas Jackson struck the post and left the score level. For France, that balance was the warning sign: enough quality to threaten, not enough cohesion to settle the game.

That is what made the opener more revealing than routine. France looked capable of producing a moment from Mbappé, Dembélé or Michael Olise, but Senegal’s discipline exposed how little margin France had when the match became compact and tense. The result suggested a team with a high ceiling, yet still searching for the balance and control that separate contenders from champions.