France 3-1 Senegal in East Rutherford as Kylian lifts the crowd | OneFootball

France beat Senegal 3-1 in East Rutherford on Tuesday, the noise swelling as Kylian Mbappé’s brace made history and won over the crowd.

In a largely blue MetLife Stadium, with only small Senegalese pockets, the early mood felt muted compared with Brazil v Morocco three days earlier at the same venue. According to L'Équipe, Romain, from Lyon, paid 1300 euros at the last minute for a seat on the very top row.

He and two friends, holders for all France games, feared poor value during a chance-free first half. Chants after a quarter of an hour struggled, but the wave, 10 minutes later, took hold as people sought release. Fadia, a Franco-Moroccan now in Brooklyn, grumbled about the searing sun and total lack of shade.

Hundreds ducked into the concourses to cool off. Daniel and Ludo had flown in from Geneva that morning and found the trip straightforward, their bus left Manhattan on time and dropped them 35 minutes later.

With others, they exploded when the goals went in at the far end, then louder still as "Allez les Bleus" rang through the concourses 20 minutes after the final whistle, while the MetLife slowly emptied.

Marco, a New Jersey-based Frenchman in a PSG shirt, had spent the first half cursing Mbappé’s heavy touches, then admitted the forward had shut him up as he left, sunglasses on and skin reddened by two hours in the heat.

Source: L'Équipe