France will begin their 2026 World Cup campaign against Senegal on Tuesday, June 15, at the New York New Jersey Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT) [1, 2].
The match marks 24 years since France lost to Senegal 1-0 in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup, a defeat that led to an early exit from the tournament for the French side [1, 2]. Despite the historical result, France coach Didier Deschamps said there are no thoughts of revenge going into this fixture. "I know that you like this word 'revenge' but there's no revenge in football," Deschamps said [1].
Most members of the current French squad, including 35-year-old midfielder N'Golo Kante, were not born or too young to remember the 2002 loss [1, 2]. Kante stressed the importance of the match for setting a positive tone for the tournament rather than settling old scores. "We want to be part of this squad and to have everyone on board, everybody counts, everybody is important. We need to go as far as possible in the competition ... Of course, our main opponent is ourselves. We need to stay together, concentrated," he said [1].
French star Kylian Mbappe faces scrutiny after failing to score in recent warm-up matches against Ivory Coast and Northern Ireland, putting added pressure on him to perform in the opener [1, 2].
Senegal enters the tournament with a strong squad, featuring excellent offensive and midfield players who play for top clubs internationally [1, 2]. France's group also includes Iraq and Norway, rounding out a competitive set of opponents [1, 2].
The opening match against Senegal will be watched closely as France aims to start the tournament on a winning note without any lingering focus on past defeats.