2018 World Champions France, who were denied back-to-back titles four years ago by losing on penalties to Argentina, begin their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign by facing Africa Cup of Nations finalists Senegal.<\/p>\n
This is a repeat of the opening game of the 2002 World Cup in Japan\/South Korea, where the then holders were stunned by the debutant nation, with a 1-0 win thanks to a famous goal from the late Papa Bouba Diop.<\/p>\n
France went on to finish bottom of their group at that World Cup; a repeat of that this time around seems unfathomable. For Senegal, they will be hoping to continue a good period at the FIFA World Cup for the Lions of Teranga.<\/p>\n
Team newsSenegal<\/p>\n
Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n For Pape Thiaw, there are no major concerns in terms of team news, although Idrissa Gueye was missing during their recent training session, although he is expected to be fit.<\/p>\n France<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n France also had players with a couple of issues. Jules Kounde suffered a muscle strain during their recent friendly win over Northern Ireland, while Mike Maignan missed training, though both are also expected to be fit. The biggest concern is William Saliba, who has been nursing a back injury through the later stages of Arsenal\u2019s season, including the Champions League final.<\/p>\n Likely line-upsSenegal<\/p>\n Edouard Mendy; Kr\u00e9pin Diatta, Kalidou Koulibaly, Moussa Niakhat\u00e9, El Hadji Malick Diouf; Lamine Camara, Pape Gueye; Isma\u00efla Sarr, Habib Diarra, Sadio Man\u00e9; Nicolas Jackson<\/p>\n France<\/p>\n Mike Maignan; Jules Kound\u00e9, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hern\u00e1ndez; Aur\u00e9lien Tchouam\u00e9ni, Adrien Rabiot; Michael Olise, D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9, Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9; Kylian Mbapp\u00e9.<\/p>\n Senegal will be hoping to use the hopes of 2002<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s no disrespect to suggest that Senegal\u2019s quality is second best to France; however, that was also the case in 2002 when Senegal secured that shock 1-0 win.<\/p>\n One thing about them is that they tend to score in the majority of their matches, with the Saudi 0-0 draw the first time that they had not scored since November 2025, depending on how you portray the AFCON final against Morocco, where they did score, and won 1-0 before being overturned.<\/p>\n Since a 2-0 loss to Brazil at the Emirates, they\u2019ve been on a 13-game run, and they have an attack full of quality, led by Premier League winner and legend Sadio Man\u00e9, but also contains Crystal Palace winger Isma\u00efla Sarr, highly rated PSG youngster Ibrahim Mbaye, and Everton\u2019s number 10, Iliman Ndiaye, just to name a few.<\/p>\n The balancing of attacking options will be a challenge for Deschamps.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n France has the best depth of attackers for any national team at the FIFA World Cup. It’s incredible when you look at potential bench options that would start for the majority of national teams in world football.<\/p>\n For Didier Deschamps, the most important thing for success is going to be a balancing act; the key battles come in the number 10 position and at left wing.<\/p>\n Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 will be expected to start in that centre role with Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 as a long striker. One of the players hoping to get a look in will be Rayan Cherki, who enjoyed an incredible debut season with Manchester City, scoring 11 and assisting 17 in 56 games, as Pep Guardiola ended his decade at the club with a Carabao Cup and an FA Cup.<\/p>\n