AFCON 2025
Kylian Mbappe bagged a brace as France began their World Cup opener with an impressive win over former colony Senegal at the MetLife Stadium in New York.
The Real Madrid star scored twice in the second half to help the 2018 World champions seal a 3-1 win over Senegal after a dreadful opening half performance.
It was a game of two halves with Senegal being the better side in the first half as they kept the star-studded French side at bay without breaking a sweat.
Nicolas Jackson and Ismaila Sarr couldn’t convert the chances that fell to them as the Terenga Lions ventured forward with confidence.
However, Didier Deschamps’ men came out shelling off their first-half selves as they moved the ball quicker and pressed high up the pitch.
Kylian Mbappe timed his run perfectly as he got to the end of a wonderful pass from Michael Olise before burying the ball beyond Mendy.
The former Chelsea goalie had earlier stopped Mbappe’s attempt on goal but couldn’t stop the French number 10 from getting his 12th World Cup goal.
Didier Deschamps introduced Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola with 10 minutes to go and the forward made an instant impact doubling the lead for France.
Barcola raced towards goal after he received a defence-splitting pass from Adrien Rabiot before looping the ball past Mendy.
Young Paris Saint-Germain sensation, Ibrahim Mbaye came off the bench for Senegal and reduced the deficit as Maignan spilled his shot into the roof of the net.
However, Mbappe restored the two-goal advantage seconds later with a ferocious strike from over 30 yards to seal a 3-1 win for France.
Mbappe’s goals take him above Olivier Giroud as France’s new top scorer with 58 goals. He is now two goals behind Miroslav Klose (15) as he looks to become the top scorer in the history of the World Cup.
