Overview:
The Lions of Teranga won the match 1-0 with Papa Bouba Diop scoring the winner against the world champions then who had a plethora of stars including Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet among others.
Tuesday June 16, 2026
- New York New Jersey stadium 10pm
Senegal enter the fray in the Fifa World Cup 2026 with a crunch tie against France in Group I in a repeat of the 2002 opening match in which the Lions of Teranga stunned the Les Blues.
The Lions of Teranga won the match 1-0 with Papa Bouba Diop scoring the winner against the world champions then who had a plethora of stars including Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet among others.
Like it was in South Korea and Japan, France are one of the favourites to win the trophy this time with only Spain ahead in the ranks according to pundits.
Senegal comes into the competition in United States, Canada and Mexico with more respect than then having qualified for the global showpiece unbeaten.
The Lions of Teranga took home the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations trophy and they could still claim to have conquered the continent in the 2025 edition too, if the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturns the landmark CAF ruling that went in Morocco’s favour.
Coming into the game, France will look to Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Bayern Munich winger Michel Olise but could miss Arsenal defender William Saliba for the match.
For Senegal, Sadio Mane, who missed the 2022 edition with injury will be amongst the players to look out for alongside Everton’s Illman Ndiaye and Nicholas Jackson.
In the same Group, Iraq face Norway on Wednesday at 1am where Erling Haaland makes his world cup debut.
How to watch
All 104 matches will be live on DStv on four dedicated FIFA World Cup Channels in multiple languages. The Channels are FIFA World Cup Central (Channel 222), FIFA World Cup Extra (Channel 223), FIFA World Cup Pass (Channel 225), and FIFA World Cup Swahili (Channel 224).
