France vs Senegal

The 48-team draw can throw up genuine heavyweight collisions in the group stage, and France against Senegal is exactly that — the perennial favourites against the strongest African side of the era. This is closer to a knockout tie in quality than a routine opener.

France remain the deepest squad in world football: Kylian Mbappé leading the line, elite midfield options, and a back line that, while in transition from the Varane–Lloris era, still has high-class personnel. Their issue is occasionally a slow tournament start and over-reliance on Mbappé moments rather than collective fluency.

Senegal are not a plucky underdog — they are physically dominant, tactically mature under their federation's continuity, with a Premier League-hardened spine and genuine pace to exploit France's high line. They beat elite sides on merit, not on luck, and will fancy this if France are anything below full sharpness.

Both teams attack with directness and pace, and both have defensive question marks early in a tournament. France's edge is individual brilliance; Senegal's is athletic intensity and a refusal to be intimidated. The likely pattern is an open, transition-heavy game where chances arrive at both ends rather than a controlled French stranglehold.

France should have enough to edge it, but a clean sheet for either side looks unlikely given both attacks and both back lines' early-tournament uncertainty. We back Both Teams to Score at 1.72 with medium confidence — a read on the open, high-quality nature of the contest rather than a call on a winner that is genuinely close.