Mbappé leads France past Senegal, underlining World Cup favorite status

Gabriel Batistuta’s line that France is “a team of fear” sounded like bravado until Kylian Mbappé turned the opener against Senegal into a statement. France won 2-1 on 16 June 2026, and the result instantly reinforced why the World Cup runners-up arrived in the tournament with so much attention and so much expectation.

The case for France has been building around more than reputation. Spanish coverage has described the side as having the tournament’s “greatest offensive arsenal,” and the early numbers backed that up. France opened the competition with 575 attempted passes, 505 completed passes and 54 percent possession, a profile that suggests control as well as speed. Mbappé led the group scoring with two goals, underlining how central he remains to every French attack.

That attacking power is not limited to one name, even if Mbappé remains the face of the side. Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Michael Olise give France layers of pace and invention around its main finisher, while Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni provide the midfield platform that lets the front line stay aggressive. France did not look like a one-man show against Senegal. It looked like a side with multiple ways to hurt opponents.

The question Batistuta’s praise raises is whether France truly has no weaknesses. On the evidence so far, the answer is that the flaws are hard to find. Mike Maignan, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Koundé and Theo Hernández give Didier Deschamps a spine built for knockout football, and Senegal, with Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ismaila Sarr and Sadio Mané, still had to work to stay within reach. France’s control of possession and its ability to finish through Mbappé suggested a team capable of winning in different styles, not just by overwhelming weaker opponents.

That is why Batistuta’s assessment now sounds less like hyperbole and more like a reasonable read on the field. France arrived as the current world runner-up after the pain of Qatar 2022, but the opening win over Senegal showed a squad that looks deeper, cleaner in midfield and more ruthless in front of goal than most of the field. For now, the favorite tag looks earned, not inflated.