Highly-fancied France face a testing start in their bid to become only the third country to reach three successive World Cup finals when they take on Senegal in New Jersey .
Les Bleus were victorious at Russia 2018 and were an outstretched Emi Martinez leg away from defending their title four years ago, the Aston Villa goalkeeper famously denying Randal Kolo Muani in the closing seconds of the final before Argentina went on to win on penalties.
France are 4/1 outright favourites with BOYLE Sports to reclaim their crown this summer but Senegal are a formidable obstacle to meet first up. The Lions of Teranga thought they had won the Africa Cup of Nations in January only to be stripped of the title due to walking off during the final against Morocco , who were awarded a 3-0 win. Senegal have appealed against that ruling but their sense of injustice could give them extra motivation for the World Cup.
Didier Deschamps' men lost to African opposition in the 2022 group stages, a much-changed side going down 1-0 to Tunisia having already booked their spot in the knockout stages, but we expect them to claim the spoils and our opening prediction is a France win with BTTS @ 13/5.
Betting Odds
France vs Senegal Betting Odds – 2026 World Cup
Result | Odds | Chance |
|---|---|---|
France | 4/9 | 69.2% |
Senegal | 6/1 | 14.3% |
Draw | 16/5 | 23.8% |
*Odds are correct at the time of writing, but subject to change.
France are 4/9 favourites to beat Senegal , who are 6/1 for the win, with the draw at 16/5.
How to Watch
How to watch France vs Senegal
The World Cup Group I match is scheduled to begin at 20:00 BST on Tuesday and will be shown live on BBC1.
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Form Guides
France form guide
France have won eight of 10 matches since losing a nine-goal thriller to Spain in last summer’s Nations League semi-finals . Germany and Brazil are among their victims during that impressive run, but a couple of things could been a slight concern to Deschamps heading into his final tournament as France boss. They surrendered a half-time lead to lose 2-1 at home to Ivory Coast earlier this month, while they have only kept one clean sheet in their last seven matches.
However, that is unlikely to be an issue if France’s much-vaunted attack lives up to its star billing, with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Michael Olise , who netted a hat-trick in France’s 3-1 win over Northern Ireland last time out, among an embarrassment of riches in the France World Cup 2026 squad .
France to score in both halves is 13/8 in a BOYLE Sports Price Boost and we also like the look of a 10/1 four-bet Featured Bet Builder. For that selection to come in there will need to be over 1.5 shots on target from Mbappe and Dembele - two players never afraid to try their luck - as well as over 1.5 tackles and 2.5 tackles respectively from Senegal duo Pape Gueye and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Senegal form guide
Senegal responded to January’s AFCON final frustration with back-to-back friendly wins in March, beating Peru 2-0 and Gambia 3-1. Recent results haven’t been quite as good, though. They were beaten 3-2 by the United States at the end of May before being held to a goalless draw by Saudi Arabia .
Nevertheless, Pape Thiaw has a talent-packed squad at his disposal with plenty of names who will be familiar to Premier League fans, including Sadio Mane, Ismaila Sarr, Idrissa Gueye and Nicolas Jackson.
Therefore, over 2.5 goals in total @ 10/11 looks tempting as both teams look to start on a good note, while Sarr - who has scored 24 times for club and country since August and finished top scorer as Crystal Palace won the Conference League - is 9/2 to notch at any time in our World Cup tips today.
Betting Tips
France vs Senegal Betting Tips
France to score in both halves @ 13/8
Ismaila Sarr to net at any time @ 9/2
Simply click/tap on the above betting tips to add to your betslip.
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