France vs Senegal: History repeats itself after 24 years

France begin their 2026 World Cup campaign against Senegal tonight in New York/New Jersey, in a repeat of their opening match from the 2002 tournament.

That meeting ended in a 1-0 defeat for France, who then failed to score in the group stage and exited with one point. The memory still hangs over the fixture, even though France arrive this time as one of the tournament’s leading contenders.

Deschamps’ squad has a forward line packed with options, including Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Désiré Doué, Marcus Thuram and Rayan Cherki. Senegal, though, are no soft touch. They come into the match with Sadio Mané, Nicolas Jackson and Ismaïla Sarr among their key names and will be aiming to make a fast start of their own.

France’s task is straightforward: avoid another opening-day setback against the same opponent that stunned them in 2002.