Mbappe Soars as France Avenges 24-Year-Old Defeat to Senegal

[Anchor]

French superstar Kylian Mbappe, often cited as the primary rival to Lionel Messi, shone brightly from his very first match. Led by Mbappe’s multi-goal performance, France defeated Senegal, successfully avenging a loss from 24 years ago.

Reporter Ha Seong-nyong has the story.

[Reporter]

In the opening match of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup held in Seoul, defending champion France suffered a stunning upset at the hands of Senegal, who were making their tournament debut.

Now, 24 years later, the two teams met again on the world's biggest stage.

Although France fielded its strongest lineup, including superstar Mbappe and Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele, the team had a shaky start, barely escaping conceding a goal against Senegal's sharp offensive pressure.

In the moment of crisis, Mbappe stepped up.

In the 66th minute, he broke the deadlock with an instinctive, one-touch turning shot after cutting into the box.

Finishing a through ball from Michael Olise with finesse, he scored in his third consecutive World Cup.

With momentum on their side, France extended their lead in the 82nd minute with a brilliant chip shot from Bradley Barcola.

Although they conceded a surprise consolation goal in stoppage time to Senegal's 18-year-old rising star, Mbaye, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe struck again just before the final whistle to seal the victory.

He led the team to a 3-1 win with a thunderous 27-meter long-range strike, putting an end to the 24-year-old grudge match.

With this, Mbappe reached 58 career goals for the national team, surpassing Olivier Giroud to become France's all-time leading scorer, and moved closer to Lionel Messi with 14 career World Cup goals.

[Interview: Kylian Mbappe / France National Football Team Forward: I am happy to leave my name as France's all-time leading scorer. I will do my best to help the French national team write great history in the World Cup.]

France, having taken a light first step toward reclaiming the title for the first time in eight years, will now face Iraq in their second group stage match.

(Video Editing: Lee Jae-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.