Duro Ikhazuagbe
Ahead of today’s opening game of Group I of the 2026 FIFA World Cup between finalists at the last edition France, and (African champions before they were stripped) Senegal, today at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, fans of the Teranga Lions will be hoping for a repeat of what happened in 2002.
That year in the edition jointly hosted by Japan/ Korea, Senegal famously defeated France 1-0 in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup. That victory propelled the Senegalese to their best outing so far, reaching the quarter final. Since the , the West Africans have been unable to repeat the feat. In two other outings since then, the best they have achieved is reaching Last 16. They have been unable to keep a clean sheet in 11 World Cup Finals matches. The Senegalese Lions have been largely unconvincing in their pre-World Cup preparations.
However, Pape Thiaw’s Lions are not the team to be written off even when they appear not to be showing convincing forms. Kalidou Koulibaly who missed the final two months of the 2025-26 season after picking up a thigh injury during a training session at Al-Hilal is back to the fold. The former Chelsea centre-back played eight minutes as a substitute during Senegal’s final pre-World Cup friendly against Saudi Arabia, and could now start against France tonight.
Nicolas Jackson who was sent off for two bookable offences against Saudi Arabia in that friendly, will not be suspended for the World Cup opener. The Chelsea striker is expected to lead the line for the Lions, while getting support from Sadio Mane and Iliman Ndiaye on the wings.
For France, the ambition to reclaim the trophy they lost to Argentina at Qatar 2022 is strong. Les Bleus believe that they were good to win the trophy back-to-back starting with the Russia 2018 victory. To get that dream of playing in third successive final, they willed a will need a positive result against Senegal today.
Coach Didier Deschamps who won the cup with France as hosts in 1998 is seeking to enter record book, winning it again for Les Bleus.
On paper, France have the most complete team of all the 48 countries in this expanded 2026 edition. Apart from Arsenal’s centre-back, William Saliba who aggravated a back injury in the UEFA Champions League final against PSG last month, Deschamps has the team one can bet on to top the Group I and get to the last two.
Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe are all guaranteed starters shirts in attack, leaving Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki and Desire Doue to battle it out for the final spot.
Saliba too is back, though has been used sparingly in France’s two pre-World Cup friendlies, although the severity of the problem has now been downplayed by Deschamps and France’s medical staff. Saliba looks set to start against the Teranga Lions alongside Dayot Upamecano.