France 3-1 Senegal: Mbappe becomes France’s all-time leading scorer; Klose’s World Cup record in sight

Second-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and substitute Bradley Barcola helped France overcome Senegal in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup.

Senegal were the better side in the first half of Tuesday’s Group E clash in New Jersey but were blown away by the 2018 world champions after the break.

France captain Mbappe was denied a penalty in astonishing fashion after going down under a challenge from Sadio Mane.

Following a pitchside review by Iranian referee Alireza Faghani, it was ruled that Mbappe had initiated the contact with Mane.

Rather than feeling sorry for themselves, Les Bleus stepped up a gear and took the lead through Mbappe, who guided home a lovely finish from a brilliant Michael Olise assist in the 66th minute.

Introduced for Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Ousmane Dembele in the 80th minute, Barcola doubled France’s lead two minutes later with a delightful chip over Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Senegal pulled one back through PSG youngster Ibrahim Mbaye in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but almost immediately from the restart, Mbappe rocketed home his second goal of the game from outside the box.

That strike took Mbappe clear of Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time leading goalscorer with 58 goals.

He is also up to 14 goals at World Cup finals, leaving him in a superb position to surpass Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 and become the competition’s all-time leading scorer.