France defeated Senegal 3-1 in their 2026 World Cup opening match in Group I at New York New Jersey Stadium on Tuesday. Despite a wobbly and surprisingly poor first half, Les Bleus rebounded to secure the victory. Bradley Barcola added a goal to help the favorites get their campaign off to a perfect start.
Captain Kylian Mbappe, the 27-year-old Real Madrid striker, led the way by scoring twice. He slipped the ball past the goalkeeper in the 66th minute and notched his 58th international strike with a screamer in second-half stoppage time. With this brace, Mbappe overtook Olivier Giroud's mark of 57 goals to become France's all-time leading scorer. Giroud, working as a pundit for the BBC, congratulated Mbappe and noted that the captain had promised him his match shirt.
The performance also established new milestones for Mbappe on the all-time World Cup scoring charts. By reaching 14 career World Cup goals, he moved past Pelé and Lionel Messi and now sits just two goals behind the tournament record held by Miroslav Klose.
France next play Iraq on Monday in Philadelphia before facing Norway in their final group match on June 26.