Group I was billed as the “Group of Death” coming into the 2026 World Cup, and on Tuesday night at the New York/New Jersey Stadium, France and Senegal lived up to every bit of that hype. The final score read 3-1 to Les Bleus, but anyone who tells you this was a comfortable night for the European giants is selling you a story. This one had nerves, history, a VAR drama, and a finish so wild it needed extra time just to settle down.
For the first 45 minutes, France looked nothing like World Cup favorites. Their star-studded front four looked disjointed and played like individuals rather than a unit, and it was actually Senegal carving out the better chances. Nicolas Jackson rattled the post, and Ismaïla Sarr squandered a golden opportunity set up by the legendary Sadio Mané. Somehow, the sides went in level at the break, with France managing barely a sniff at goal.
Then came the moment that nearly changed everything. Mbappé burst into the Senegal box and went down under a challenge from Mané. To the naked eye it looked like a stonewall penalty, but referee Alireza Faghani waved it away for a goal kick. French fans started celebrating when VAR sent him to the monitor, sure a penalty was coming. They were wrong — the call stood.
France needed a halftime reset, and they got one. Manager Didier Deschamps reshuffled his attack, repositioning Michael Olise into a more central role, and the move paid off almost immediately.
In the 66th minute, Mbappé finished smartly inside the box to break the deadlock — his first goal of the tournament and the moment the game finally tilted France’s way.
Substitute Bradley Barcola doubled the lead in the 82nd minute, finishing off a swift counter, and the result looked safely wrapped up.
But Senegal weren’t done writing their own chapter. Substitute Ibrahim Mbaye, who’d only just come on for the injured Sarr, pulled one back in the 90th+5th minute with a close-range finish off a goalmouth scramble that even had Mbappé’s own goalkeeper conceding Maignan probably should have done better.
For about sixty seconds, New Jersey held its breath. Could Senegal somehow snatch a draw out of nothing?
The answer arrived almost instantly. One minute later, in the 90th+6th minute, the ball broke to Mbappé thirty yards from goal. He didn’t hesitate — he spun and absolutely larruped it into the top corner, a strike good enough to settle any match, let alone seal a World Cup opener. The goal also made him France’s all-time leading scorer, moving past Olivier Giroud to 58 international goals, with Miroslav Klose’s World Cup scoring record now just two goals away.
It was the perfect bookend to a strange, lopsided, thrilling 90 minutes — a game where France stumbled, steadied, and then stunned, exactly the way CBS Sports described their performance afterward.
Mbappé, ever the perfectionist, didn’t sound like a man satisfied with just three points. He told reporters France has to stay calm and composed because everything moves so fast at a World Cup, already shifting focus to their next match against Iraq.
Senegal’s keeper Edouard Mendy was more reflective, admitting his side knew they needed to be more clinical and that facing pure talent like France leaves no room for error.
History almost repeated itself from 2002, when Senegal stunned the reigning champions 1-0 in their World Cup debut. This time, Les Bleus made sure there’d be no upset — even if it took every last second of stoppage time to be sure of it.
Man of the Match: Michael Oliseh
