It's the big tussle between one of the favourites to lift the title and one of the best teams from Africa. France and Senegal will begin their FIFA World Cup campaign in their Group I match in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Here's everything you need to know about the game.
How to watch:
The match will be available on BBC in the UK, Fox Sports in the U.S., Zee5 in India and SBS in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
U.S. ET: 3 p.m., Tuesday, June 16
UK BST: 8 p.m., Tuesday, June 16
India IST: 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 17
Australia AEST: 5 a.m., Wednesday, June 17
Venue: New York/New Jersey Stadium
Referee: Alireza Faghani
Team News
France
Good news for France as William Saliba returns to team training. There were some doubts earlier about his fitness due to a nagging back injury.
Predicted XI:
GK: Mike Maignan
LB: Lucas Digne; CB: Dayot Upamecano; CB: William Saliba; RB: Jules Koundé
CM: Adrien Rabiot; CM: Aurélien Tchouaméni
LW: Désiré Doué; CAM: Ousmane Dembélé; RW: Michael Olise
FW: Kylian Mbappé
Senegal
Predicted XI
GK: Édouard Mendy
LB: Ismail Jakobs; CB: Moussa Niakhaté; CB: Kalidou Koulibaly; RB: Antoine Mendy
CM: Pape Matar Sarr; CM: Lamine Camaral CM: Pape Gueye
LW: Sadio Mané; ST: Nicolas Jackson; RW: Ismaïla Sarr
Talking Points
Can anybody stop France?
France's attacking strength can be regarded as the best in the world. It's a dream to have the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise leading the line. If these are not enough, they have the likes of Rayan Cherki, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaïre-Emery who can cause plenty of damage going forward.
In goal, they have the reliable Mike Maignan, who has seamlessly replaced previous goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris.
It remains to be seen how Deschamps actually wants his team to play at the World Cup. In his 14-year reign with the national team, he has been highly successful but also regarded as a bit conservative with his style of play. France's success over the last decade was based on a solid defensive structure with an efficient attacking system. The current France team are brimming with outstanding attacking talents who are also in form. Deschamps might not change his core philosophy and time will tell whether it's the right call or not.
Can Senegal's shock France?
A settled team, with a good manager and proven winners. There's experience in Sadio Mané, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Kalidou Koulibaly and Édouard Mendy, and plenty of talented youngsters in Lamine Camara, Assane Diao, Mamadou Sarr, Pape Matar Sarr and Bara Sapoko Ndiaye. The manager Pape Thiaw also oversaw success, helping the team win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
There's enough in the squad to progress into the next rounds, maybe even semifinals, but to beat France, they will need to play a perfect game. Senegal did it once in the 2002 World Cup, but this is 2026 France. As mentioned above, it's not easy to break France's defence and they do have attackers who can turn the game around in a matter of minutes. Senegal do like to take risks and score goals, and they should stick to their process. They might need a moment of magic from somebody to shock France. The good news is, they do have the players who can do that.
