France’s World Cup openers, from 1930 to 2018, show why first nights can mislead | OneFootball

France open their World Cup against Senegal on Tuesday at 21:00, mindful of the jolt of 2002. Seoul and Marseille told very different tales two decades apart.

According to L'Équipe, their 16 previous openers produced eight wins, three draws and five defeats. They lost the opener in 1982 yet reached the semi-finals, drew in 2006 then made the final, and even won in 1930 but failed to progress.

Early chapters included Mexico beaten 4-1 in 1930, the team wearing white pullovers against the cold. In 1934 they fell to Austria in Turin, then returned to a hero’s welcome. Belgium were the opponents at Colombes on 6 May 1938.

In 1958 they routed Paraguay 7-3 at Norrköping, having even taken a bus to spy on their rivals’ training. By 1978 Bernard Lacombe headed the tournament’s fastest goal, yet Italy won 2-1 at Mar del Plata.

England handed them a 3-1 defeat at San Mamés in 1982, a blow felt by Maxime Bossis and Marius Trésor. In 1998 Christophe Dugarry answered critics by scoring against South Africa at the Vélodrome on 16 June.

Senegal stunned France 1-0 in 2002 despite David Trezeguet, Djibril Cissé and Thierry Henry arriving as top scorers in Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Premier League. A flat 0-0 with Uruguay followed in 2010 before everything unravelled for the side of Anelka and Govou. In 2018, a laboured 2-1 over Australia in Kazan hardly hinted at what came next.

Source: L'Équipe