Mbappé double lifts France past Senegal in World Cup opener

Kylian Mbappé turned France’s World Cup opener into a familiar statement about power and dependency. The Real Madrid forward scored twice to beat Senegal 3-1 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and his finish from the 66th minute through stoppage time carried France through a match that had been uneasy for long stretches.

France struggled to impose itself before halftime, then changed the game after the break with Mbappé at the center of everything. He opened the scoring in the 66th minute after linking with Michael Olise, a goal that moved him level with Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time leading scorer at 57. He then settled the contest in the 90+6th minute with a strike from distance into the top corner, pushing his international total to 58 and taking him to 14 goals in World Cup play.

Bradley Barcola added France’s second in the 82nd minute, while Senegal found a late response through Ibrahim Mbaye in the 90+5th minute. The scoreline gave France its first victory of the 2026 tournament and preserved its clean record against Senegal in World Cup play, avoiding any repeat of the upset that marked the teams’ first meeting in 2002.

The result also sharpened the question that will follow France deeper into the tournament: is this the deepest squad in the field, or a contender whose ceiling still rises and falls with Mbappé? France had usable attacking pieces around him, including Olise and Barcola, but the decisive moments still belonged to the captain of the attack, who now sits one behind Gerd Müller on the all-time World Cup scoring list led by Miroslav Klose with 16.

Didier Deschamps also reached a milestone on the bench, managing his 20th World Cup match and joining Bora Milutinovic, Oscar Tabarez and Mario Zagallo at that mark. Senegal arrived with Sadio Mané, Nicolas Jackson and Kalidou Koulibaly in a lineup built to test France, and for much of the night they did, until Mbappé’s finishing made the difference and turned a difficult opener into a reminder of how thin the line remains between depth and dependence.