Mbappé’s belter steals show as fluid France see off late Senegal challenge
This was an ominous start from the World Cup favourites. A spluttering first-half performance gave way to a second period characterised by a combination of physical intensity and technical ability that few club sides, never mind nations, can match. Add a record-breaking double for Kylian Mbappé and some superlative playmaking from Michael Olise, and this was very much a job well done for France.
After Mbappé tucked away a superb Olise pass just after the hour, a match that had started as a keenly fought contest faded to a procession. When the captain crashed his second of the day past Édouard Mendy in a chaotic period of added time, he secured both victory and his place as France’s all-time leading scorer, a 58th goal for his country edging him ahead of Olivier Giroud.
This was all grist to the mill for Didier Deschamps, who denied having given his team a dressing-down after an error-strewn first half but did admit to “speaking my mind”. He said the key change in the second half was positional, as Olise moved more centrally to influence the play. But it was clear the players had also been encouraged, gently or otherwise, to raise their level.
“I am frank with my players, I tell them how things are,” Deschamps said. “We could have done much better on many levels in the first half. I wasn’t shouting or screaming, I’ve grown wiser with age, but my players do have to make the right decisions in defending and come into their own when attacking.”
Deschamps said he moved Olise inside, at the expense of Ousmane Dembelé (who was later substituted), because “I thought it would give us more connection”, adding: “The more Michael touches the ball the better it is. It created more danger.”
As for Mbappé he was, in his coach’s words, “ruthlessly efficient”. The 27-year-old is now the third highest goalscorer in World Cup history behind Ronaldo Nazario and Miroslav Klose, and was not immune from the mistakes that characterised the first half. But, Deschamps said: “If you want to miss the first half again and score two in the second half, that’s OK with me.”
Senegal should likely have held the lead at half time, with Mike Maignan saving well from Sadio Mané (and avoiding an inadvertent own goal after the ball deflected off his heel) before Ismaïla Sarr wasted a clear opportunity from 10 yards out. But when France re-emerged from the break they did so with a marked increase in intensity and, by the hour, the game had changed decisively.
