Due to the former French occupation of Senegal and because of soccer history, France vs. Senegal is an absolutely massive matchup that will write its latest chapter on Tuesday. As Michael Olise continues to make his case to win the Ballon d'Or and Senegal wanting to get past the controversy of winning the Africa Cup of Nations only to have the title stripped from them due to leaving the pitch, this is a tie fit for the knockout stage.
Senegal and France last faced each other in the World Cup 2002, with Senegal defeating France 1-0, a time that current Senegal manager Pape Thiaw will remember well, being part of the team during that clash. France were the reigning World Cup champions and entered the game as heavy favorites, but that day produced an unforgettable upset of Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane's men, the latter missing out due to an injury he picked up before the tournament.
Fast forwarding to 2026, midfielder N'Golo Kanté is back in the France squad to help with balance in this World Cup despite not being involved since the 2018 tournament for Les Bleus, but he believes that France have what it takes to defeat the African nation and avoid disaster.
"They have a good balance, which makes Senegal a very difficult team, one to be taken seriously," Kante said in a pre-match availability. "The match will be decided by many aspects. But I think we have what it takes to compete with Senegal and win this match."
But despite that talent, it has been anything but a smooth week of preparation with Ousmane Dembele hitting back at criticism that Kylian Mbappe doesn't defend enough. While Mbappe did say that he needs to take a step forward defensively in an interview with Le Parisien, Kante wants to level-set that this is a balanced team.
"We all want to do well in this World Cup, we want to be part of this squad, and to have everybody on board. Everybody counts, everybody is important, and everybody needs to feel concerned for the general goal that we're pursuing," he said.
Already seeing contenders such as Spain and Belgium get off to slow starts, France will need to ensure that they avoid the fate of other European nations.
Manager Didier Deschamps views the water breaks that happen around the 23rd minute of each half as a good moment to ensure that his team is on the right track, using the provided time to give up-close instruction and adjustments. After this World Cup, Deschamps will step down as the manager of France, so it's an opportunity for him to go out on a high note.
"For three minutes, you can get the players close to you, and so this gives you an opportunity to adjust a couple of things as regards the 22, 23 minutes of the game that just took place. And so with these high temperatures, everybody is subjected to them," Deschamps said about hydration breaks. "But then, yes, it leads us to split the game. And if you're in a strong position, you have to start playing again. But we adapted to this, and even in our prep work, we've anticipated this. Because in fact, it's not two halves, it's four quarter-times basically that we've got. This is what's been decided, and so the players and the coaches adapt to this new reality."
Not all coaches have embraced the hydration breaks because they can stop the momentum of matches, so it will be interesting to see how Deschamps has prepared his team to keep their momentum in matches, especially since Sadio Mane and Senegal will bring everything that they have in the match. The Lions of Teranga don't view themselves as underdogs in this opening match, nor should they, because, as Thiaw notes, they've been one of the best sides in Africa for years now.
"Level-wise, we were qualified, you know, three times in a row for the World Cup, and the same for AFCON, we played the final three times out of four," Thiaw said. "In football, I don't like to talk about surprises; everyone's worked very hard, and we're working hard to win the game."
With Norway and Iraq in their group, it's important to win here in order to get the easiest path to the knockout stage possible. Mane may be the focus, but if Ismaïla Sarr or Iliman Ndiaye are left in space, it will be a long day for France in this chess match.
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