Mbappe's record-breaking brace powers France to 3-1 win vs Senegal

Kylian Mbappe spent the first half in New York's Met Life stadium looking like a man being denied his favourite stage.

Every time the France captain threatened to burst into life, a Senegal shirt appeared in his path. Every run was tracked, every touch contested and every attempt to influence the contest was met with resistance. As the clock ticked towards half-time in New Jersey, it was Senegal, not France, who looked more likely to leave with the perfect start to their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign.

FRANCE vs SENEGAL, FIFA WORLD CUP 2026: HIGHLIGHTS

France had arrived in New Jersey carrying one of the most glamorous attacks at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Mbappe was flanked by Ballon d'Or holder Ousmane Dembele, Bayern Munich creator Michael Olise and the wonderfully gifted Desire Doue. Bradley Barcola, fresh from another excellent season at Paris Saint-Germain, could only watch from the bench.

On paper, it looked ridiculous.

On the pitch, for much of the first half, Senegal made it look surprisingly ordinary.

In fact, for long stretches, the Lions of Teranga looked like the better side.

Nicolas Jackson rattled the post. Ismaila Sarr somehow blazed over from close range. Loose balls seemed to fall Senegal's way and every French attack was met by a wall of green shirts.

Which was precisely what made the second half feel so inevitable.

The World Cup has a habit of creating its own leading men and Mbappe has spent the better part of a decade owning the role. For an hour, he was little more than a frustrated spectator in a contest being played on Senegal's terms. By the final whistle, he had scored twice, become France's all-time leading goalscorer and steered Les Bleus to a 3-1 victory that served as a reminder of why they remain among the favourites to lift the trophy.

The scoreline might suggest a comfortable evening for the 2018 world champions and 2022 runners-up. The reality was far more complicated.

ALL CREDIT, BUT NO POINTS FOR SENEGAL

Senegal will struggle to understand how they walked away empty-handed.

Aliou Cisse's side executed their game plan brilliantly in the first half. They pressed aggressively, denied Mbappe space and carried genuine threat every time they broke forward. Jackson looked lively, Sarr caused problems and the French defence rarely looked comfortable.

Had Senegal taken one of their opportunities before the break, the evening could have unfolded very differently.

That, however, is the cruel reality of tournament football. Against the very best teams, missed chances tend to return later as regrets.

As the second half progressed, Senegal's intensity began to fade slightly. The spaces they had so effectively closed during the opening 45 minutes started appearing and France finally found the rhythm they had been searching for.

The warning signs were there long before the breakthrough arrived.

HOW DESCHAMPS CHANGED THE GAME

While Mbappe will grab the headlines, Didier Deschamps deserves plenty of credit for the way France wrestled control of the match after the break.

For much of the first half, France looked like a team of superstars playing on different wavelengths. Mbappe was isolated, Olise struggled to find space between the lines and Dembele spent more time tracking back than troubling Senegal's defence. Deschamps responded by tweaking France's shape out of possession, shifting from a 4-4-2 into a more compact 4-4-1-1 and moving Dembele into a role that offered greater protection down the right.

The changes gradually tilted the contest in France's favour. Senegal suddenly found it harder to play through midfield, while Olise began finding the pockets of space that had been missing before the break. It was the Bayern Munich playmaker who finally cracked the game open, threading a perfectly weighted pass through the Senegal defence for Mbappe to race onto and finish with typical authority.

Once France had their breakthrough, they never looked back. Deschamps' influence was evident again moments later when substitute Bradley Barcola, introduced from the bench, needed only seconds to make his mark. Released by Adrien Rabiot's pass, the Paris Saint-Germain winger calmly lifted the ball over Edouard Mendy to double France's advantage and reward his manager's decision almost instantly.

WORLD CUP MODE MBAPPE ARRIVES

Football still had one final twist left.

Just when France seemed to have the game under control, 18-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye injected fresh life into the contest. The teenager twisted away from Aurelien Tchouameni and rifled a brilliant strike into the roof of Mike Maignan's net, giving Senegal a glimmer of hope and the crowd a reason to believe there might yet be a dramatic finish.

The hope lasted only a few minutes.

Mbappe's response was instant and ruthless. Picking up the ball nearly 30 yards from goal, the France captain took one look up and unleashed a thunderous strike that flew beyond Edouard Mendy and into the bottom corner. It was the sort of finish that ended both the c…