Kylian Mbappe breaks scoring record as France kickstart 2026 World Cup with 3-1 win over Senegal

We promised you a cracking game and that is what we eventually got. I loved that. I suspect Mbappe did too.

Mbappe fancies this. An absolutely larruper of a goal late on. That is how you win a game. That is Mbappe's 58th goal for France. He is the record scorer for his country. He may well very soon be the record goalscorer at the World Cup. Two more to tie Miroslav Klose.

Well that is quite something. Probably too late but surely worth the wait. Ndiaye slides him into a one on one with Hernandez, who he flies past before absolutely larruping the ball right at Maignan, who can only palm the ball into the net. Deschamps hurls a water bottle to the floor in frustration.

On comes Rayan Cherki. I mean what a joke that is. Maybe the best creator in the Premier League, the sort of player who every other international team except maybe Argentina would build their attack around, and he's warming the bench for France. This is scary depth on display.

There's just no stopping this France side when they're in the mood. Rabiot fizzes a pass between the line and into the run of substitute Barcola, who lifts over Mendy. That should do it for France, whose lead is two with eight minutes to play.

What a striker Senegal's No.11 might be if he could only stay offside. Diouf delivers a wonderful cross from the left, Jackson meets it well but turns it just over. It wouldn't have counted anyway. For the third time tonight he is just offside. Now it is to be expected that a center forward who sits on the last line will be caught out more than, say, Mbappe. But could he just tone it down a little more?

This is a bit painful for me, being a Sixers fan, but the NBA Champion New York Knicks were shown during the hydration break while receiving an ovation from the crowd. That's one way to keep energy up following Mbappe's goal.

Much more like it this game. Jackson breaks behind the France backline thunders in a strike at the near post that Maignan cannot get close to. Fortunately for France the Senegal forward is offside. We're into another hydration break now and frankly I need something stronger than water to get my mind together right now.

Olise really has brought this game to life. Once again he moves towards the ball as the rest of the France attack stays high. His pass is razor sharp and, after one a moment earlier that Mbappe misses, this is a perfect connection. Mbappe whips his body around the ball and drives low past Mendy. 

Much more like it from France and Mbappe, who draws level with Olivier Giroud as his country's all-time record goalscorer.

Faghani points towards the penalty area and for all the world it looks like he has given a penalty. Only he is actually pointing for a goal kick. "The attacker initiated the contact," says the referee. There'll be no penalty here. Deschamps is raging.

Yeah this is really, really opening up. France cycle the ball out to the right and Mbappe, who skips away from a lunging Mane. Referee Alireza Faghani is convinced that there isn't contact. Replays would suggest otherwise. There's just a nick on the trailing leg.

This game is really starting to open up. Senegal try to work the ball out but France win it back high and Olise's first instinct is the right one, a low pass fizzed to Mbappe in space. The goal is there for him but Diatta is on his shoulder and Mendy is making himself big. Having said all that this is Mbappe, he should do better than hitting the goalkeeper's left leg.

A half interesting move for France dies as it often has today, Mbappe carrying possession to nowhere in particular. Senegal get going up the field and for a while it looks like Jackson is away in behind. He's a sprightly forward but doesn't have the legs to get away from Saliba, who eats up the yards and slides in in the box. You've got to get those right. Of course Saliba does.

Perhaps that threat will be a wake up call for France. Seconds later they're down the other end and Olise is cutting beyond the defense, meeting the ball in the box and drawing a smart reaction block from the onrushing Mendy.

I know we're back underway in this one, but after that first half, it's hard to see France getting it going unless they get more dynamism in midfield. They've had their chances on the break, but Senegal have outworked France where it counts and have created chances from it. Warren Zaire-Emery is ready and waiting, but Didier Deschamps doesn't enjoy changes that could upset the carefully crafted balance that he has built in the squad.

Senegal get the ball rolling and they do a rugby-esque kick for a touch to start the game. I really hope that isn't foreshadowing another 45 minutes of whatever that first half was.

Just 0.02 xG for Deschamps' side off one shot. The last team to put up less than that in a half of a World Cup game? That'll be France in the 2022 World Cup final. It's a thing that does happen with this team.

The half ends with quite abysmal defending from France. It's a basic one-two between Mane and Diouf, the latter gliding to the byline as Olise just doesn't bother to stay with him or try to bother him. The cutback beats Jackson and finds an unmarked Ismaila Sarr. Unmarked because Rabiot and Doue are just watching. This is incredible. So is Sarr lifting the ball over the bar at close range. That could have been massive.

Dembele drives wide and forces a cross in that looks like it might have taken a deflection. Either way it arrives in a dangerous position but one only occupied by Koulibaly. The veteran defender seems a little surprised at how that ball is moving and can only deflect it out for a corner. That is the first error of what has been an excellent outing by Senegal's defense and their veteran leader. You could say the same of goalkeeper Mendy, who is on hand to grab a corner that, just like Dembele's cross, is put in a tempting position without a French player gambling on it.

The positioning of the French side is aggressive on paper, they're zipping the ball around a lot but goodness it's so passive. None of the six behind the attack really seem empowered to take the ball at their feet and drive upfield, something which a good few of them can do quite nicely. Instead at least one of the forwards feels it's up to them to drop deep. Then another does the same and France end up jammed 30-plus yards from goal.

You suspect that before too long something will happen to bust this game open but you're making that assumption based on talent, not how France are playing. This is the team we all forget about after every major tournament. No wonder, their football is relentlessly forgettable.

See now that's why I'll never quit on Nicolas Jackson. A brilliant tackle on Mbappe and then a pass to release Jackson. He has Upamecano for company and Saliba in support and yet there is nothing stopping the Chelsea man from driving into the penalty area. He hits his low drive ferociously, the ball cannoning back off the post and into the body of Maignan. The France goalkeeper is very lucky that the deflection off his heel goes wide of his goal. By far the best chance of the half so far, that.

A couple of flashes from the French, including a pass fizzed into Mbappe just off the Senegal line. He tries to move it in behind but Edouard Mendy gets to the ball quicker. With the ball at their feet, the team in blue really are lining up in what might be most easily viewed as a 4-2-4 with one of Mbappe or Dembele dropping deeper or pulling wide to add to the midfield. Both Doue and Olise are free to move infield from their spots on the flanks too. It's creating some interesting overloads but runs the risk of leaving France vulnerable to the counter.

When the ball does go Senegal's way, France's shape morphs to a 4-2-3. You'll notice that's one number light. Yeah Mbappe really isn't doing that defensive work he said he would.

Despite the fast start for Senegal, that is not deterring the French fans as this match gets started. It's essentially a packed house at MetLife, and it's mostly French fans in attendance. Senegal does have a few sections filled up, and their fans are enjoying the start from their team. If the Lions of Teranga can be slightly crisper in their buildup, a goal is coming.

We're only seven or so minutes through but Senegal are looking really sharp when the ball is in the French half. They work hard out of possession and combine really nicely when they have the ball. Jackson drops deep and flicks a really nice first time ball into the path of Ismaila Sarr, who for a moment looks like he might be away in behind. The French line isn't the most organised but by god they have athletes who can mitigate that. Dayot Upamecano charges back and is on hand to block the shot before it can really test Maignan.

A bright start for the underdogs this, even if for the most part they're going to have to cope without the ball. 

Away we go! In very PSG fashion, Les Bleus begin the game by booting the ball long to try to create a pressing opportunity. They just aren't quite as sprightly as the European champions and Senegal find their way upfield relatively briskly, resulting in a dangerous cross from the left that Theo Hernandez has to flick away before Ismaila Sarr can bundle in at the back post.

Kick off is just moments away. This should be a cracker!

This won't shock you but N'Golo Kante, the engine of the Leicester City and Chelsea Premier League triumphs who was so beloved by neutrals that they didn't begrudge him rocking up at Stamford Bridge, is not motivated by revenge for the aforementioned 2002 defeat. Here's what he had to say in the pre-match press conference yesterday:

"I know you have this famous word 'revenge', but for me, there's no such thing as revenge in football, and it happened 24 years ago. Good for Senegal for what happened in 2002, but now there's a new chapter to write. Today we're going to do everything we can to make sure the result goes our way."

There's no Kante in the starting XI, no great surprise even considering his great history with Les Bleus. The 2018 champions spent two and a half years in Saudi Arabia before moving to Fenerbahce, where he performed pretty well in the back half of the season. He is just not the player he was back in his Chelsea days. 

I've seen quite a few France jerseys walking through New York City, and there's a green Senegalese contingent coming into MetLife during what is a beautiful day for soccer. These are two teams who should combine for a great game, and we'll be here as this show gets on the road.

The last time these two sides met at a World Cup was a game few will ever forget. As a 12 year old at school in the UK I can still remember the buzz at the news that France, who we had come to view as invincible over the last four years, had been downed by a group of players few of us had ever heard of. That Senegal side of El Hadji Diouf, Papa Bouba Diop and Salif Diao would go on to make a big impact in the years to come but there might never have been a game to match the beating of Thierry Henry and company.

France XI: Mike Maignan; Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot; Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue; Kylian Mbappe

Senegal XI: Edouard Mendy; Krepin Diatta, Kalidou Koulibaly, Moussa Niakhate, El Hadji Malick Diouf; Idrissa Gana Gueye, Lamine Camara, Pape Gueye; Ismaila Sar, Nicolas Jackson, Sadio Mane