Two-time champions France begin their Group I campaign by taking on Senegal in New York New Jersey on Tuesday

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Who: France vs Senegal What: FIFA World Cup 2026 Where: New York New Jersey Stadium, New Jersey, United States When: Tuesday, June 16 , 3pm local time (19:00 GMT) How to follow: Catch all live updates on Al Jazeera Sport

Senegal against France has to be one of the most memorable fixtures in World Cup history, and for all the wrong reasons for Les Bleus.

Tournament debutants Senegal stunned the defending champions, plagued by off-field issues, in the opening game of the 2002 edition in Seoul, South Korea, winning 1-0 thanks to Papa Bouba Diop’s goal after half -an -hour – watched from the bench by current Lions of Teranga boss, Pape Thiaw.

It remains the only meeting of two nations bonded by 300 years of history, but a repeat in New York New Jersey on Tuesday would not only send new shockwaves throughout the football world, it would be extra -special for the 10 members of the Senegal squad who were born in France.

Deschamps aiming to end on a golden note

Spain might be the narrow favourites to win World Cup 2026 but is there a more settled and talented squad than France?

Didier Deschamps will seek to end his glorious 14-year tenure as France coach by leading Les Bleus to a third World Cup success.

Deschamps lifted the trophy as captain at home in 1998, then masterminded their 2018 success in Russia, while only a penalty shootout defeat to Argentina in the 2022 final prevented him from becoming just the second coach to win two World Cups.

With his contract set to end in July and with Zinedine Zidane waiting in the wings, Deschamps – the longest serving coach at the tournament by five years – will seek to go out on a high with a third straight final appearance back in East Rutherford on July 19 . Three wins here would make him the most successful World Cup coach of all time with 17 tournament victories.

Despite a slightly underwhelming performance at Euro 2024, when they suffered semi-final defeat against Spain after scoring just four goals in six games, including a penalty and two own -goals, France dropped only two points in qualification for this tournament by drawing in Iceland.

They possess surely the most talented attacking arsenal in the game today, with Kylian Mbappe supported by Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and the likes of Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue.

While Mbappe hasn’t had the happiest of years with Real Madrid, he still managed 42 goals in all competitions and nobody has scored more than his 12 goals in the past two World Cups – including a hat-trick on his last appearance, the 2022 final. He is one goal away from matching Olivier Giroud’s record of 57 goals for France.

Olise has shone for Bayern Munich, providing 26 assists, and after the disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Ivory Coast, he scored a hat-trick in the final warm-up against Northern Ireland, while Dembele averaged 1.4 goals and assists per 90 minutes in Ligue 1, helping Paris Saint Germain to back-to-back Champions League crowns.

Whether you consider them African champions or not, Senegal are not at the World Cup just to make up the numbers.

Their status as AFCON winners remains undecided after they appealed the decision of the Confederation of African Football to remove the title after their controversial final against Morocco in January.

The Lions of Teranga walked off the pitch after Morocco were awarded a last-ditch penalty with the scores level. Though Brahim Diaz missed the penalty in the 24th minute of added time, after a long delay, and Papa Gueye scored an extra-time winner for Senegal, they were subsequently stripped of the title and have lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Pape Thiaw’s men went undefeated in qualifying to top their group with seven wins in 10 matches, conceding only three times, and will fancy their chances of making a deep run into the knockout stages, despite being handed a testing group of France and Norway, as well as Iraq.

Their last competitive defeat – if you don’t count the AFCON Final – came in the last 16 against England in Qatar in 2022 – they are unbeaten in 30 since then and though they lost a warm-up match to the USA and played out a stalemate with Saudi Arabia, their talented squad features 20 players playing in Europe’s top-five leagues.

Both sides should be at full strength for the game with France defender William Saliba back in full training after aggravating a back injury in Arsenal’s Champions League Final defeat to PSG, while Jules Kounde has shaken off a knock picked up against Northern Ireland.

Sadio Mane endured a nightmare Qatar 2022 campaign, hampered by injury, but is fit to start while Everton midfielder, Idrissa Gueye, should be fine, despite leaving training early on Saturday.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/6/15/france-vs-senegal-world-cup-2026-mbappe-teams-lineups-start-dembele?traffic_source=rss