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Sport Nation
FWC on Sport Nation guideFrance sizzle in second half to see off Senegal
AP •  June 17th, 2026 9:45 am
A second-half Kylian Mbappe brace has steered France to an opening World Cup win over Senegal | Photo: AP
Kylian Mbappe has scored twice to move past Pele and Lionel Messi with 14 World Cup goals, while Bradley Barcola added another and France rebounded from a surprisingly poor first half to beat Senegal 3-1.
Mbappe had 14 touches in the scoreless first 45 minutes plus added time on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ time), the fewest of any player, then showed his brilliance when he put Les Bleus ahead in the 66th minute. After Jules Kounde and Michael Olise twice exchanged passes on the right flank, Olise made a diagonal pass as Mbappe burst past Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly.
Playing at a third World Cup, 27-year-old Mbappe turned onto the ball just outside the six-yard box and slid it past Edouard Mendy and inside the far post in New Jersey.
Barcola entered in the 80th and scored two minutes later when he ran onto a through ball from Adrien Rabiot, took a touch and lifted the ball over Mendy for his fourth international goal.
PSG's Bradley Barcola made an immediate impact after coming on in East Rutherford | Photo: AP
Ibrahim Mbaye scored on an angled shot for Senegal five minutes into added time, but Mbappe netted a spectacular long-range goal a minute later, over Mendy's outstretched arm and just under the crossbar.
Mbappe moved one ahead of Messi and Just Fontaine on the World Cup career scoring list and is tied with Gerd Mueller, trailing only Brazil's Ronaldo (15) and Germany's Miroslav Klose (16). Mbappe also set a French record with 58 international goals, one more than Olivier Giroud.
Mbappe travelled to North America off the back of scoring 25 goals last season at club level for Real Madrid.
Trying to reach their third straight World Cup final, France play Iraq on Monday (Tuesday NZ time) in Philadelphia, then close Group I against Norway in Massachusetts. Senegal meet Norway on Monday at the New York New Jersey Stadium and finish the first round against Iraq at Toronto.
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