FIFA World Cup 2026, France vs Senegal Football Live Score: Mbappe scores 2 to break FRA records
FIFA World Cup 2026 Today Match Live Score Updates: After a quiet first half, Kylian Mbappe has lit up France’s FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against Senegal with two goals which helped him multiple records. The French forward became France’s top goalscorer as this is his 58th goal in his 99th international leaving behind Olivier Giroud’s France record. Mbappe bettered Lionel Messi’s tally of 13 World Cups goals with his 13th and 14th strikes. The Frenchman did it in his 15th appearance, while the Argentinian has 26 games to his name. Mbappe is now just three goals short of Miroslav Klose’s competition record. Mbappe is also France’s top scorer at World Cups with 14 goals. Mbappe scored the first goal of the game minutes after he was controversially denied a penalty after VAR intervention.
The game has also seen goals from Bradley Barcola for France and Ibrahim Mbaye for Senegal.
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France’s FIFA World Cup 2026 opener at the Metlife Stadium in New York/New Jersey had been going very tepidly until Mbappe took over in the 60th minute, creating chances out of nothing. Earlier, the best chance of the 1st half had come to Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr, who should have scored from point blank range, but shot over the crossbar with what was the final kick before half-time.
France’s Kylian Mbappe scores the opening goal of his team during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
The goal from Mbappe helped him make history on multiple counts.
The last time these two sides had met in the opening match in a World Cup was in 2002 when France, the then defending champions, shockingly lost to the newbies 1-0. The side could not recover after that and ended up getting eliminated from the Group Stage without a single win.
Since then, France have been finalists in the last two editions of the World Cup, even winning the whole thing again in 2018. They almost gave Argentina a scare in 2022 with a 3-3 draw after Extra Time but eventually lost in penalties. With Kylian Mbappe, arguably the best player in the world outside the rarefied air of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, in their squad and a solid midfield and defence line, France will look to make a positive start.
For Senegal, this year started with the drama surrounding the AFCON final when the team were ordered off the pitch by coach Pape Thiaw after Morocco were given a penalty. Sadio Manee would bring them back to the pitch but the match was delayed by 16 mins and even though Brahim Diaz missed his spot kick and Pape Gueye scored in Extra Time, Senegal were stripped of the title. With the wounds still fresh, Senegal poses a pretty seismic challenge to France.
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As France head coach Didier Deschamps’ prepares for his swansong, his charges have to show they know how to get the job done. Kylian Mbappe is now 27 and France’s leading man. (AP Photo)
2022-2026: Will the real France, full of attacking talent, step up on big stage
Frightfully abundant in attacking talent during a period that has the makings of a dynasty but is peppered with the inability to win a slew of major trophies, France could have been the Brazil of 1958-70.
The South American giants carved out a legacy falling only once, to the Italians, in a 12-year cycle of dominance built by an assembly line of domestic talent lining up behind the mercurial Pele. As France head coach Didier Deschamps’ prepares for his swansong, his charges have to show they know how to get the job done.