France Begins World Cup 2026 Journey Against Senegal
New Jersey. France begins its journey in the 2026 World Cup with a challenging opening match against Senegal on Tuesday. With this, they are on the verge of creating a very prestigious history.
Four years ago in Qatar, Les Bleus were runners-up, losing to Argentina in an exciting final. Before that, France had won the 2018 World Cup held in Russia.
Now, France aims to become the third team after West Germany (1982–1990) and Brazil (1994–2002) to reach the World Cup final for the third consecutive time.
Furthermore, in the last seven editions, France has reached the final four times (1998, 2006, 2018, and 2022). This number is double that of any other nation in this period.
- That World Cup
The last World Cup clash between France and Senegal filled the streets of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, with joy.
In the opening match of 2002, when Senegal stunned defending champions France 1-0, then-Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade declared a public holiday.
A day before France and Senegal meet in Group 'I', French midfielder N'Golo Kanté said through an interpreter on Monday, 'We don't want to win to take revenge, but rather to advance as far as possible in this competition.'
Before 1960, Senegal was a French colony. Senegalese coach Pape Thiaw said through an interpreter, 'We know that the match between France and Senegal is very symbolic in itself.'
In 2002, when Papa Bouba Diop scored in the 30th minute, six of France's current players were not even born. That year, Senegal reached the quarterfinals and was defeated by Turkey. Meanwhile, France was eliminated from the group stage without winning any matches.
French coach Didier Deschamps said through an interpreter, 'There is no revenge in football. Now is the opportunity to write a new history. Good luck to Senegal for what happened in 2002. It was good for them then, but this time we will spare no effort to make the result positive for us.'
France is ranked third and Senegal 16th in the world rankings. 'Our main rival is ourselves,' Kanté said, 'We should not be under the illusion that we are very good or very strong.'
Senegal's coach Thiaw was selected for the 2002 squad but only played in the Round of 16 match against Sweden. He will teach his players the lessons learned from the late Bruno Metsu, Senegal's coach in 2002.
Thiaw said, 'Tomorrow, when I talk to my players, Bruno's influence will surely be there. I will also add my personal experiences and what Bruno taught me.'
The US government has refused to grant visas to Senegalese fans, but Thiaw expects supporters to be present at MetLife Stadium.
'Of course, we want our fans with us. We know what they can do for us. They cheer us on,' Thiaw said, 'But there is a large Senegalese community here. Senegalese are very patriotic and they love their national team. You will see this tomorrow. You won't believe that no supporters have come from Senegal.'
In 2022, Senegal won the 'Africa Cup of Nations'. In this year's final, they defeated Morocco 1-0. However, due to Senegalese players leaving the field for 15 minutes in protest of a penalty awarded to the opponent in injury time, the African football governing body awarded Morocco a 3-0 walkover victory.
Senegal has appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 'For me, we are the champions of Africa, end of story,' Thiaw said.
- Hopes on Mbappé
Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappé was the main architect of France's excellent performance in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. He scored a total of 12 goals in those two tournaments. With this statistic, he has equaled Brazilian legend Pelé. He is only 4 goals behind the record for most goals held by Miroslav Klose.
His 12 goals include a hat-trick in the 2022 final. He is the second player after England's Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
France is playing in its 17th World Cup. This is their eighth consecutive participation and also the longest continuous streak in their history. France, a two-time champion, is also the last team to win the World Cup as a host. They won the title on home soil 28 years ago in 1998.
Didier Deschamps was the captain of France at that time. He is the third person after Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer to win the World Cup as both a player and head coach.
This match will be Deschamps' 20th World Cup game as coach of France. The record for managing the most games with a single team is held only by Helmut Schön (25 games with West Germany).
- Senegal's Journey
Stunning France in the World Cup is not new for Senegal. When they defeated France, who entered as defending champions, in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup, it was their first participation. This African nation has now qualified for the World Cup for the fourth time after 2002 (quarterfinals), 2018 (group stage), and 2022 (round of 16).
This is their third consecutive World Cup. Along with Morocco and Tunisia, this is jointly the longest continuous streak for an African team.
However, the only World Cup match in which Senegal did not concede a goal was that 1-0 victory against France. They have conceded goals in all 11 matches played since then.
In the qualifiers, Senegal finished top of their group, remaining undefeated and ahead of DR Congo. Senegal's top scorer Sadio Mané led his team with 5 goals in the qualifiers. The 34-year-old Mané has played in only one previous World Cup, where he played all three matches in 2018.
Head coach Pape Thiaw was limited to the bench in the 2002 victory over France and played only one match in that tournament. However, he assisted Henri Camara's golden goal in the Round of 16 clash against Sweden. This is his first World Cup as head coach.
Team:
- France: Brice Samba, Mike Maignan, Malo Gusto, Lucas Digne, Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté, William Saliba, Théo Hernandez, Lucas Hernandez, Maxence Lacroix, Manu Koné, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Michael Olise, N'Golo Kanté, Adrien Rabiot, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Rayan Cherki, Maghnes Akliouche, Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram, Kylian Mbappé, Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué, Jean-Philippe Mateta.
- Senegal: Yevane Diop, Edouard Mendy, Mory Diaw, Mamadou Sarr, Kalidou Koulibaly, Abdoulaye Seck, Ismail Jakobs, Moussa Niakhaté, Formose Mendy, El Hadji Malick Diop, Idrissa Gueye, Pathé Ciss, Lamine Camara, Krépin Diatta, Pape Matar Sarr, Habib Diarra, Bara Sapho Ndiaye, Pape Gueye, Ousmane Diop, Bamba Dieng, Sadio Mané, Nicolas Jackson, Cheikh Ndiaye, Iliman Ndiaye, Ismaïla Sarr, Ibrahima Mbaye.
This specific news has been automatically translated by AI. As a result, there may be some inaccuracies or language errors.
