France vs Senegal: World Cup preview, predictions and bet builder tips

• Fixture: France vs Senegal

• Competition: World Cup - Group I

• Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2026

• Kick-off: 20:00 BST

• Venue: New York New Jersey Stadium

Our prediction: France 3-1 Senegal

France

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan / Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernandez / Tchouameni, Rabiot / Dembele, Olise, Doue / Mbappe

Senegal

Our predicted XI (4-3-3): Mendy / Diatta, Koulibaly, Niakhate, Diouf / P. Sarr, Camara, P. Gueye / I. Sarr, Jackson, Mane

France arrive in North America as one of the favourites to win the World Cup, after making the final in each of their last two appearances. Les Bleus have a dizzying array of attacking talent, including Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, who are all contenders to win the Golden Ball. However, Group I looks one of the trickiest, with Senegal and Norway both potential dark horses.

Senegal will pose a tough test, as England found out when losing 3-1 to them in a friendly last year. The Lions of Teranga won AFCON in January this year before they were controversially stripped of their title, but on the pitch they are no pushovers, and went through World Cup qualifying unbeaten. They also have history on their side, having famously stunned then-champions France 1-0 in the group stage back in 2002.

Didier Deschamps will be wary of an upset, but we think this French squad will just have too much for Senegal, eventually running out 3-1 winners.

Senegal have plenty of firepower in forward areas, including the likes of Sadio Mane, Nicolas Jackson, Ismaila Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye. Before a 0-0 stalemate with Saudi Arabia in their final warm-up match, the Lions of Teranga had scored in their previous seventeen internationals. Meanwhile, France have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five games, so we're predicting both teams to score.

It hasn't quite gone to plan yet in Madrid for Kylian Mbappe, but few players have ever impacted the fortunes of their national side like the French captain. Mbappe has an astonishing record of 56 goals in 98 caps, including 12 goals in 14 games at the World Cup. He could well break Miroslav Klose's all-time record this summer, and we're backing him to get off to the perfect start here. Mbappe has six goals in his last six competitive internationals and we're tipping him to score in France's opener against Senegal, as he aims to win back-to-back World Cup Golden Boots.

The AFCON finalists have plenty of depth in attack, but their star man remains Sadio Mane. The Liverpool icon, now at Al-Nassr, has 55 goals in 128 caps and is his country's all-time top goalscorer. He's not slowing down either, with 10 goals in his last 17 internationals, and is averaging 1.46 shots on target across his last five games. We're tipping Mane to have at least one shot on target against France.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.