Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The 2026 World Cup has 13 starting times. You can use it Al Jazeera Sport widget to know when your team is playing your time.
WHO: France vs Senegal
What: FIFA World Cup 2026
Where: New York New Jersey Stadium, New Jersey, United States
When: Tuesday, June 16, 3pm local time (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: Get all the updates on Al Jazeera Sport
Senegal against France has to be one of the most memorable matches in World Cup history, and for all the wrong reasons for Les Bleus.
Senegal, who played in the tournament, stunned the defenders, who faced foreign problems, in the opening game of the 2002 edition in Seoul, South Korea, to win 1-0 thanks to a goal by Papa Bouba Diop after half an hour – watched from the bench by the boss of Teranga Lions, Pape Thiaw.
It is still the only meeting between two countries built in 300 years of history, but the replay in New York New Jersey on Tuesday will not only send new shocks to the world, it will be very special for the 10 members of the Senegal team who were born in France.
Deschamps wants to finish on the gold medal
Spain may be the slight favorites to win World Cup 2026 but there is a more stable and skilled group France?
Didier Deschamps wants to end his 14-year tenure as France coach by leading Les Bleus to their third World Cup win.
Deschamps lifted the trophy as captain at home in 1998, followed by a successful 2018 in Russia, where Argentina’s penalty shootout defeat in 2022 prevented him from becoming only the second coach to win two World Cups.
With his contract set to expire in July and Zinedine Zidane waiting, Deschamps – the sport’s longest-serving coach at five years – will seek to go to heaven and the third straight appearance with the last at East Rutherford on July 19. Three wins here would make him the all-time winningest World Cup coach with 17 wins.
Despite a poor performance at Euro 2024, where they lost in the semi-final against Spain after scoring just four goals in six games, including one goal and two goals, France dropped just two points in the tournament by drawing in Iceland.
They have the most talented arsenal in the game today, Kylian Mbappe supported by Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and midfielders Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue.
Although Mbappe hasn’t had the most exciting years with Real Madrid, he still managed 42 goals in all competitions and no one has scored more than 12 goals in the last two World Cups – including a hat-trick in his last appearance, the 2022 final. He is one goal away from equaling Olivier Giroud’s record of 57 goals for France.
Olise shone at Bayern Munich, providing 26 assists, and after a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to the Ivory Coast, he scored a hat-trick in the final preparation against Northern Ireland, while Dembele scored 1.4 goals and assisted 90 minutes in Ligue 1, helping Paris Saint Germain to a back-to-back Champions League crown.
Senegal wants to take it seriously
Whether you consider them African scholars or not, Senegal they are not at the World Cup just making up the numbers.
Their title race as AFCON champions remains uncertain after they appealed the Confederation of African Football’s decision to strip them of the title after losing to Morocco in January.
The Lions of Teranga stormed off the pitch after Morocco were awarded a penalty in the final with the lead. Although Brahim Diaz missed the decision in the 24th minute of extra time, after a delay, and Papa Gueye secured an extra victory for Senegal, he was later stripped of the title and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Pape Thiaw’s men are unbeaten to lift their group with seven wins from 10 games, only three defeats, and will fancy their chances of making it to the knockout stages, despite being given a testy group by France and Norway, as well as Iraq.
Their last defeat in the competition – if you don’t count the Final AFCON – reached the last 16 against England in Qatar in 2022 – they have not lost 30 since then and although they lost a friendly match in the USA and played hard against Saudi Arabia, their talented team has 20 players who play in the top five teams in Europe.
News about the French team
Both teams are expected to be fitter for the game as French defender William Saliba returns to full training after aggravating a back injury sustained in Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat by PSG, while Jules Kounde missed out on defeat to Northern Ireland.
News about the Senegalese team
Sadio Mane has endured a poor Qatar 2022 campaign, hampered by injury, but is fit to start while Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye should be fit, despite pulling out of training on Saturday.
