France Overcome Senegal 3-1 as Mbappe Makes History and Referee Controversy Simmers
It took them a while to warm up, but once they got going, France showed why they are many people’s favorites to win the World Cup. Didier Deschamps’ side turned on the style in the second half with two goals from Kylian Mbappe and another from Bradley Barcola, defeating Senegal 3-1.
Senegal was actually the better side in the first half, as a disjointed France frequently gave the ball away and lost midfield duels. Twice Pape Thiaw’s side came close to taking the lead: first when Nicolas Jackson’s low shot came back off Mike Maignan’s near post, then rebounded fortuitously to safety off the France goalkeeper; then when Ismaila Sarr shot over from inside the box after being set up by Sadio Mane.
France improved after the break. Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was twice forced into last-ditch saves, from Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappe. The Real Madrid striker then was convinced he had won a penalty as he went down under a reckless challenge from Mane. Referee Alireza Faghani said no penalty, even after being summoned to the pitch-side monitor.
With 66 minutes played, France made the breakthrough, with Olise threading a brilliant pass into the area for Mbappe to turn into the net.
The game was settled with nine minutes to go when Barcola, on as a substitute, chipped over Mendy after being played in by Adrien Rabiot.
Senegal did give France a late scare when Ibrahim Mbaye beat Maignan with a thumping finish at his near post, but then Mbappe had the last word with a brilliant strike from long range.
Mbappe is now France’s all-time top scorer with 58 goals, surpassing Olivier Giroud’s 57-goal tally. He is also the joint-third highest World Cup goalscorer, level with Gerd Muller on 14. Only Miroslav Klose (16) and Ronaldo Nazario (15) have more.
Melanie Anzidei, Mark Carey, Jay Harris, Amy Lawrence and The Athletic’s refereeing expert Graham Scott analyze the key talking points.
How did France get their fab four to fire?
Slowly — slowly enough for plenty of consternation at half-time — but surely. France grew into this encounter, and the dynamic attackers that make them such an alluring proposition found the tempo and freedom to purr.
There has not been much dispute about the personnel Deschamps can call upon up front, but the subtlety of the positioning and the telepathic touches — what they like to call automatisms — are not always as easy to replicate for the national team as a club side.
Is Mbappe best placed up front or where he traditionally preferred it from the left? Is Olise, so exceptional roaming around central areas for Bayern Munich this season, as effective from a wider posting?
Answers began to make sense after half-time as they found their flow. A positional tweak gave Olise better areas to cajole and prompt, and it was his crafted pass that released Mbappe to ease France into the lead and himself deeper into the record books.
The attack was a slow burn, but many a World Cup contender starts relatively coolly. By the end, France were in ole mood, passing and moving freely, attacking willingly, and Barcola helped himself to a goal to add shine to an excellent result, before Mbappe added the gloss with a blistering hit.
Amy Lawrence
Was Mbappe denied a clear penalty?
It took until the hour mark for the game to burst into life.
France were building momentum in the second half and asking further questions of Senegal’s defense as they looked to pin them back into their defensive third. After Mbappe picked the ball up on the right flank and drove into the penalty area, a retreating Mane slid in and appeared to catch the trailing leg.
The initial decision from Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani was no penalty, but replays seemed to suggest otherwise. After a VAR review was suggested to Faghani, the subsequent assumption was that the decision would be overturned as he jogged over to the pitchside monitor.
“I can actually see from there why he doesn’t give it. It doesn’t look like there’s a bunch of contact.” – @landondonovan
Watch the ref cam POV of no penalty being given 🎥 pic.twitter.com/VuEvQEo1Jb
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 16, 2026
After he announced his decision to the stadium, French fans celebrated at the suggestion he had called for a penalty to France, but Faghani stuck with his original decision, suggesting that Mbappe was the player who initiated the contact. No penalty, and the opportunity for Senegal fans to now erupt in celebration.
Senegal must be tired of controversial penalty decisions this year. Extraordinary scenes were witnessed during their Africa Cup of Nations final with Morocco in January, after they conceded a debatable spot-kick and players were instructed to walk off the pitch by manager Pape Thiaw.
Ultimately, the whole scenario was academic to the final scoreline in New Jersey, but the decision made by Faghani was a curious one.
Mark Carey
What will it mean for the official?
On first viewing, it appeared that Mane wiped out Mbappe in the penalty area and that France should be awarded a penalty. It looked the same on the second, and the third.
VAR was introduced to end the howler, the decision that was so obviously wrong that it made no sense not to correct the error instantly, and this was a classic example of the genre.
So I was as baffled as everyone else watching when Iranian-Australian referee Faghani decided to stick with his on-field decision that there was nothing to see here.
Iranian-born Faghani, who lives in Australia and operates in the A-League, is setting records by officiating in his fourth World Cup, and was tipped for the final in Qatar before a disappointing performance in the group stages.
Given FIFA’s usual policies in relation to clear errors of this nature, this may be his last match.
Graham Scott
Does this pitch look fit for a World Cup final?
With two matches now played at the MetLife Stadium, the conversation over the condition of the pitch has reignited, especially with six more games to play here this summer — including the World Cup final. The condition of the pitch was a massive topic at last year’s Club World Cup, with many wondering if lessons would be learned ahead of this summer.
Following Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Morocco on Friday, Vinicius Junior told TNT Sports Brazil that the grass was drying out quickly, making the game very slow and preventing the team from building momentum in their attack. “That makes things difficult,” he said, “because we want to play. We want to move the ball from one side to the other and this disrupts our game.” He concluded, “we have to adapt.”
As France and Senegal tussled on the same field, the pitch seemed to be in a similar condition.
From the press box, seams between rolls of turf were clearly visible. When taking corners, players inevitably stepped on the artificial turf surrounding the grass because of how tight the perimeter surrounding the field was.
During half-time, workers with green “pitch” vests tended to the grass — stomping on the playing surface, smoothing it out and picking up what appeared to be dead grass from the pitch and tossing them into buckets. The sprinkler at half-time seemingly was meant to keep the grass from drying out.
Questions about the pitch will increase with every game played here. FIFA officials have previously told The Athletic that organizers intentionally gave themselves two weeks between the last 16 match and the final to best prepare the surface for the final on July 19.
Melanie Anzidei
Do Senegal need to consider dropping Sadio Mane?
Senegal will be bitterly disappointed that they lost, but demonstrated they have the credentials to go far in this competition.
They performed much better than their opponents in the first half. Right-back Krepin Diatta kept drifting inside past Desire Doue with ease, El Hadji Malick Diouf whipped a couple of superb crosses into the box and Ismaila Sarr was a threat on the counter. Jackson impressed with his movement and link-up play too.
There were a few nervy moments in midfield from Pape Gueye and Idrissa Gueye, but Kalidou Koulibaly and Moussa Niakhate mopped up after them. Sarr was guilty of missing a glorious opportunity to score with the last action before half-time.
Senegal failed to capitalize on their momentum and were powerless to prevent France after the break. Olise started collecting the ball in more dangerous areas and his passes sliced through Senegal’s defense. Mane was extremely lucky not to concede a penalty for a rash challenge on Mbappe. Mendy made a string of impressive saves from Olise.