France
SenegalThis was a tale of two halves in the most literal sense. Senegal controlled the opening 65 minutes, created the better chances before the break, and could easily have been in front when France finally broke the deadlock. What followed was a clinical second-half statement: three goals in 25 minutes, two of them arriving in dramatic stoppage time when the match appeared settled at 2-0. Mané's intelligence and the Lions' defensive shape were not enough to compensate for the individual brilliance France can unlock at the flick of a Mbappé boot.
France
France were found wanting for an entire first half — Senegal's energy and organisation left Les Bleus looking sluggish in possession, and Sarr's free invitation from a Mané incision on the stroke of half-time underlined how vulnerable a flat France could be. The second half was a different country: Mbappé's opener from an Olise through-ball at 66 minutes unlocked the match, Barcola arrived off the bench to double the advantage at 82, and Mbappé sealed it in stoppage time with a long-range thunderbolt that made him France's all-time leading scorer on 58 international goals. Three goals in 25 minutes from a side that had created almost nothing for 65 — uncomfortable to watch until it emphatically wasn't.
Senegal
Senegal were the better team for most of the first hour and had every right to take something from this match. Jackson's effort crashed back off the post before half-time; Sarr squandered Mané's gliding run at the stroke of the break with the goal at his mercy; the Lions of Teranga applied pressure and pace that made France look genuinely fallible. But football does not grade on first-half merit alone, and when France's individual quality came calling the Senegalese defence — for all Koulibaly's commanding presence — could not hold. Mbaye's 90+5 strike, making him the youngest African scorer in tournament history, was a moment of genuine pride inside a defeat that felt harsher than the scoreline suggests.