France Struggles Early but Defeats Senegal Behind Mbappe's Two Goals

[Anchor]

France, another strong contender aiming to reclaim the championship title after eight years, also won its opening match against Senegal. Star player Kylian Mbappe led the team to victory by scoring two goals.

Reporter Seo Dae-won has the story.

[Reporter]

Facing Senegal in the World Cup for the first time in 24 years since their opening match defeat at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, France struggled in the first half despite fielding superstars like Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, trailing 5 to 1 in shots.

The player who broke the frustrating deadlock was, as expected, Mbappe.

In the 21st minute of the second half, he connected with a brilliant pass from Michael Olise for a one-touch shot to score the opening goal.

This marked Mbappe's 13th career World Cup goal and his third consecutive tournament with a goal, following his four-goal performance in Russia in 2018 and his Golden Boot-winning eight-goal run in Qatar four years ago.

Buoyed by Mbappe's goal, France extended their lead in the 37th minute of the second half with a goal from Bradley Barcola.

When France conceded a goal to Senegal's Pape Ndiaye during second-half stoppage time, narrowing the gap to one, Mbappe stepped up as the closer once again.

Just one minute after conceding, he fired a spectacular long-range right-footed shot to seal the victory.

Mbappe has now increased his total World Cup goal tally to 14.

France, the 2018 Russia World Cup champions, defeated Senegal 3 to 1, avenging their loss from 24 years ago and making a powerful start in their quest to return to the top after eight years.

In the same group, Norway defeated Iraq 4 to 1, taking the lead in the group ahead of France on goal difference.

Erling Haaland, who has won the English Premier League Golden Boot three times in the last four seasons, scored two goals in his World Cup debut.

With Iraq's defeat, the undefeated streak of Asian nations in this tournament has come to an end after seven matches.

(Video Editing: Jang Hyun-ki)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.