East Rutherford (US): France defeated Senegal 3-1 after a scoreless first half, with Kylian Mbappé scoring twice and becoming France's all-time leading goalscorer. With his brace, Mbappé surpassed Pelé and Lionel Messi on the list of World Cup goalscorers with 14 goals. He moved ahead of Messi and Just Fontaine on the World Cup scoring leaderboard. Tied with Gerd Müller, he now trails only Brazil's Ronaldo (15) and Germany's Miroslav Klose (16). Mbappé also reached a career-high tally of 58 international goals, surpassing Olivier Giroud.
“I'm sure that he will do it," Saliba said of Mbappé setting the record.
Mbappé had the fewest touches in the match, with only 14, but showed his brilliance when he put Les Bleus ahead in the 66th minute. After Jules Koundé and Michael Olise exchanged passes on the right side of the pitch, Olise delivered a pass to the left, where Mbappé was waiting and sprinted past Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly.
After Barcola came on for the final 10 minutes of the match, he scored just two minutes later, taking his international goal tally to four after also scoring against Senegal.
Following Barcola's goal, Senegal's Ibrahim Mbaye scored from an angle in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Just one minute later, Mbappé scored another spectacular goal, lifting the ball just under the crossbar and beyond Senegal goalkeeper Mendy, who was already fully stretched.
The game played out like a qualifying friendly, with France struggling in the first half. In the 25th minute, Senegal striker Nicholas Jackson's shot struck a post, rebounded off the heel of goalkeeper Mike Maignan and bounced out of play.
“In the first half, we weren't good, they were better than us,” France defender William Saliba said.
In the second half, Les Bleus outshot their opponents 10-1.
On a sunny afternoon with temperatures reaching 25 degrees Celsius, supporters of the Lions of Teranga appeared to be confined to a small section in the south-west corner of MetLife Stadium after some Senegalese fans were denied visas by US authorities.
There were empty seats on the mezzanine club level, which has air-conditioned suites beneath the outdoor seating areas, although most of the stadium was filled with 80,545 spectators, slightly below capacity.
Hoping to reach their third consecutive World Cup final, France will face Iraq on Monday in Philadelphia before concluding Group I play on June 26 against Norway in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Senegal will play Norway on Monday at MetLife Stadium before closing out the opening round against Iraq in Toronto.
