Duro Ikhazuagbe
Kylian Mbappe became France’s all-time leading goalscorer last night as Les Bleus hammered Senegal’s Teranga Lions 3-1 in a thrilling 2026 FIFA World Cup Group I clash at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The Real Madrid forward at just 27 years, scored two goals in the victory to surpass Olivier Giroud’s 57 goals to now become the record holder at 58 goals for France.
Now, Mbappe is knocking on the door to also surpass Miroslav Klose’s World Cup record of 16 goals. His brace on Tuesday night now puts him just two goals short of Klose’s record at the Mundial.
Substitute Bradley Barcola netted either side of a pair of exquisite strikes from Mbappe to move Les Bleus, who were finalists at the last World Cup in Qatar four years ago, to the top of Group I on three points.
If Mbappe was the winner of the game last night with his performance,
Michael Olise who was moved into a more central position after the break, ran the show for Les Bleus. He was the creative hub around which everyone charged. Didier Deschamps’ replacement of Ousmane Dembélé with Barcola was a game changer. It lifted Les Bleus mood and they became absolutely unstoppable.
All talks of a possible repeat of Senegal’s feat 24 years ago in South Korea fizzled the moment Les Bleus found their rhythm.
For a team that arrived at the tournament with this spectacular front line of: Ballon d’Or holder, Dembele and his fellow European champion, Desire Doue, star of the season, Michael Olise, and Mbappe, any opponent was bound to feel the effect of such positive force!
It was therefore surprising that Sénégal succeeded in stifling the game in the middle in the first half where the two Gueyes (Idrissa and Pape) held sway. The two full backs, El Hadji Diouf and Krepin Diatta had more than enough work to do in conjunction with the central defenders aging Kalidou Koulibaly and Moussa Niakhate.
But the moment France clicked in the second stanza, there was nothing Sadio Mane and his colleagues could do.
Of course, it was not as if Sénégal didn’t make efforts to snatch a possible win against France. A few brilliant moments like when Nicolas Jackson had to watch his shot crash back off the post, and Ismaïla Sarr missing glaring chances by falling and hoping for penalties, were not enough to upstage this Les Bleus on the night.
RESULTS
Iran 2-2 New Zealand
France 3-1 Senegal
Iraq – Norway
TODAY
Argentina v Algeria (2am)
Austria v Jordan. (5am)
Portugal v DR Congo (6pm)
England v Croatia (9pm)
