Mbappe's historic brace powers France to victory over Senegal
Baku, June 17, AZERTAC
Kylian Mbappe scored a brilliant brace to become France's all-time leading scorer with 58 goals as Les Bleus kicked off their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with an entertaining victory over Senegal.
The France captain's two goals ensured there would be no repeat of his country's shock defeat to Senegal in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup — France’s only opening-game loss in their previous eight World Cup appearances. Mbappe's heroics capped a much-improved second-half performance from the two-time world champions.
However, it was Senegal who posed the greater threat early on in New York New Jersey. Nicolas Jackson came close when his effort beat Mike Maignan but struck the post after a deflection. Jackson later found the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. Ismaila Sarr also missed a promising opportunity.
France responded strongly after the break. Désiré Doué's early effort signaled the shift in momentum, while Michael Olise and Mbappe both forced excellent saves from Édouard Mendy.
The breakthrough came when Olise’s clever pass found Mbappe, who fired past Mendy to draw level with Olivier Giroud’s record of 57 goals for France.
Mbappe then made history outright, scoring his 58th international goal with a superb strike from outside the penalty area after substitutes Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye had exchanged late goals.
Mbappe's next milestone is the World Cup finals scoring record of 16 goals held by Miroslav Klose. The French star now has 14 goals in the tournament.
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