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Gueye is pulled up for a foul on Dembele. The latter delivers the set piece but Koulibaly heads it away to safety. France keep attacking, Dembele with a cross that bounces for Koulibaly, who clears once more.
There will be six minutes of added time.
France 0-0 Senegal, 45 minutes
Didier Deschamps, overseeing his last World Cup, is in the dugout and I do wonder what he is thinking about how this match is playing out so far. France isn’t so much firing as playing with a silencer. Olise and Doue are two I’m looking at right now, though Olise isn’t exactly getting service in space or in a timely fashion.
Senegal aren’t much better when it comes to the final ball. Diatta makes a break for it on the right but his pass to Sarr has too much on it and it flies straight out for a goal kick. This is definitely going to be another draw, isn’t it.
Sarr goes down with a knock of some sort, and play is briefly halted as he receives treatment.
France 0-0 Senegal, 41 minutes
France’s last World Cup match against Senegal set off dancing in the streets of Dakar. Les Bleus were the defending champions when the Lions of Teranga’s 1-0 upset win in the 2002 opener caused Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade to declare a national holiday.
“Not for revenge do we want to win, but we want to go as far as possible in this competition,” France midfielder N’Golo Kante said through a translator a day before this Group I meeting between Les Bleus and Senegal. Senegal was a French colony before 1960.
“We know that a game between France and Senegal is a very symbolic game,” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said through a translator.
Six of France’s players hadn’t been born at the time of the 2002 game, when Papa Bouba Diop scored in the 30th minute while lying on his side. The Lions of Teranga reached the quarterfinals that year before losing to Turkey, while France went winless and failed to advance from its group.
“There’s no revenge in football,” France coach Didier Deschamps said through a translator. “This will be another page to write now and what happened in 2002, well, all the best for Senegal. I mean it was good for them at the time but we’ll make sure that the results be a positive for us this time.”
Will it disrupt the momentum they’ve just generated? The answer is no, because they have engineered another chance almost immediately after the resumption of play when Sarr takes a rather audacious shot from the edge of the box that, once it’s all done, looks more hopeful that it first did. He might have got in a bit of a tangle there.
France 0-0 Senegal, 32 minutes
Jackson is fed by Diouf and takes off down the left, eventually unleashing a spiralling effort that bangs straight into the upright. France have yet to manage a shot on goal at the first drinks break.
France 0-0 Senegal, 26 minutes
He is controlling the affair while also letting it flow as Senegal defend and defend again, their 4-4-2 formation holding firm for the most part as begin to impose themselves. Said defence suffers a flesh wound when Mane is caught napping and Olise whips in a cross for Dembele, who has a crack but is thwarted. Senegal are in transition without skipping a beat.
France 0-0 Senegal, 20 minutes
Clearly, because the Real Madrid forward isn’t there yet. He’s getting the service in behind but appearing nervy. Dembele is provider but Mbappe’s touch leaves a lot to be desired. A couple of minutes later. Koulibaly coughs up possession and Dembele once again puts Mbappe in behind, though the pass isn’t as good. Rather, it has too much on it.
France 0-0 Senegal, 15 minutes
Pleasant might be a better description, with temps expected to reach about 25 degrees.
The match starts with France, who launch the ball forward before Senegal carry it back up the other way and Diouf sends in a cross from the left that Hernandez heads behind for a corner. Senegal opt for a short corner and, when Maignan goes down under Tchouameni, France get a free kick.
France settle in, stroking the ball around at the back, getting themselves comfy against their already-lively opponents.
France 0-0 Senegal, 10 minutes
You might remember it was only in January that they won a dramatic Africa Cup of Nations final, in which the team were ordered off the pitch by manager Pape Thiaw after referee Jean-Jacques Ndala pointed to the spot in stoppage time following a VAR check for Malick Diouf’s challenge on Brahim Diaz.
The final was goalless at the time and, after a 16-minute delay, Sadio Mane brought his team back out to continue the game. Edouard Mendy saved Diaz’s eventual penalty, before Gueye scored the extra-time winner.
But their protest came back to haunt them, and two months later the Confederation of African Football appeal board stripped Senegal of the AFCON title. That did not stop the team parading the trophy before a friendly against Peru later that month, with the case set to be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
It’s an expected Dembele, Mbappe, Doue feast for France. Saliba has recovered from his back injury, and Kounde from his knock in the tournament’s lead-in friendlies.
For Senegal, Gueye is obviously fit to start despite reportedly missing training on the weekend.
France: Maignan; Hernandez T, Saliba, Upamecano, Kounde, Rabiot, Tchouameni, Olise, Dembele, Doue, Mbappe. Subs: Akliouche, Barcola, Cherki, Digne, Gusto, Hernandez L, Kante, Konate, Kone, Lacroix, Mateta, Risser, Samba, Thuram, Zaire-Emery.
Senegal: Mendy E; Diatta, Niakhate, Koulibaly, Diouf E, Gueye P, Gueye I, Camara, Sarr, Jackson, Mane. Subs: Ciss, Diao, Diaw, Dieng, Diouf Y, Jakobs, Mbaye, Mendy A, Ndiaye I, Ndiaye C, Sarr M, Sarr P, Seck
