PREVIEW: France kick off bid for World Cup glory against Senegal | OneFootball

France kick off their bid to avenge defeat in the 2022 World Cup final against Senegal in Group I at the MetLife Stadium.

Heading into his final tournament after 14 years as France manager, Didier Deschamps will aim to prevail like they did in 2018 after falling short on penalties against holders Argentina in an exhilarating final four years ago in Qatar.

Seeking their third star on the blue shirt, the France squad exudes an abundance of talent across the pitch, with their attack being referred to as one of the strongest at the tournament.

Before travelling to the United States, France hosted two friendlies where they first narrowly lost to Ivory Coast 2-1 from a late Amad Diallo winner.

However, they rectified their defeat as Michael Olise was the star of the match in victory against Northern Ireland, scoring his first international hat-trick against Northern Ireland in Lille.

With Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué entering the tournament with a second consecutive Champions League medal and Kylian Mbappé within one goal of France’s all-time record goalscorer Olivier Giroud, Senegal will have a difficult job on their hands to contain what is a talented and very motivated French side.

And yet despite that, the Lions of Teranga are strong contenders, ranked 16th in FIFA’s world ranking, the second-highest African national team behind Morocco, in eighth.

The African nation caused a historic 1-0 upset over France at the 2002 World Cup, shocking the defending champions and indeed the whole footballing world.

This is now the fourth time they have qualified for the competition, as they put up a valiant effort in Qatar when they pushed all the way to the round of 16 before defeat to England.

To qualify, Senegal topped their CAF qualifying group unbeaten with seven wins and three draws.

A controversial Africa Cup of Nations final in January where they were stripped of being champions doesn’t impact the dynamism and confidence they’ll play with on the pitch.

In recent warm-up games they suffered a 3-2 defeat to the USA, where Al-Nassr forward Sadio Mané bagged a brace, and a goalless draw against Saudi Arabia where Nicolas Jackson was sent off for two bookable offences.

Filled with many experienced players, from the decorated Mané to powerful centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly leading from the back line, they are certainly a nation to monitor this summer.

The match in New Jersey will kick off at 20:00 (BST) with live coverage available on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

For more detailed reports, reaction, and analysis of the World Cup as it happens, head to our website and favourite our page on OneFootball.