France overcame an unconvincing first-half performance and eventually turned on the style in a 3-1 win over a difficult Senegal side.
Here are our Scout Notes from the game, featuring match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.
FRANCE 3-1 SENEGAL
- Goals: Mbappe x2, Barcola | Mbaye
- Assists: Olise, Rabiot | I Ndiaye
- Shot on target bonus: Mbappe x2
- Key pass bonus: Olise
- Tackle bonus: Tchouameni | Diatta
- Top points scorers: Mbappe (14), Barcola (9), Mbaye (8), Rabiot (7), Olise (6)
TEAM STATS
PLAYER STATS
SCOUT NOTES
- For 45 minutes, this match looked like it was heading the way of Spain v Cabo Verde. France were following the footsteps of their fellow co-favourites in finding little attacking joy, and the game was goalless at the break. Even worse, Senegal had the better chances, with Nicolas Jackson ($6.7m) striking the woodwork and Ismaila Sarr ($6.2m) wasting a sitter on the stroke of half-time.
- After the interval, however, France cranked up a few gears. Michael Olise ($9.5m), Desire Doue ($7.5m) and Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m), who Senegal suffocated in the opening half, all went close within 10 minutes of the restart. Doue shot narrowly wide from distance, while Olise and Mbappe both should have scored when slipped through on goal. Mbappe was then denied what looked like a stonewall penalty, despite VAR recommending referee Alireza Faghani take a second look.
- Then, the deadlock-breaking strike. Olise brilliantly fed Mbappe for the opener, before Adrien Rabiot ($6.4m) did likewise for substitute Bradley Barcola ($8.0m). After Senegal set up a potentially nervy finish with a late consolation, Mbappe snuffed out any danger when rifling in superbly from 30 yards.
- Mbappe emerged with a 14-point haul from this, adding not one but two ‘shots on target’ points to go with his brace. It should be said how awful he was before his 66th-minute opener! His touch was abysmal, with many a France move breaking down due to his lack of control. No French player lost possession on more occasions. However, as the old saying goes, class is permanent. When you’ve got a supply line like Olise, and when you’re capable of the individual moments of genius we saw for the final goal of the game, a haul can often be salvaged from the wreckage of a poor performance. Didier Deschamps summed it up after full-time:
“If he wants to have another poor first half and score two goals in the second, that’s fine by me. He had two or three poor touches. It’s not a psychological issue for him, but he just doesn’t let doubt enter his mind. Over the course of the match, he could have scored four or five goals, but it’s great that he scored those two.” – Didier Deschamps on Kylian Mbappe, via L’Equipe
- Mbappe walked away with the headlines, and the all-important Fantasy points, but Olise was arguably France’s stand-out player. Showing only glimpses of his red-hot Bayern form in the opening exchanges, thanks to Senegal’s effective low block, he was much livelier after the break. A tactical switch brought the best out of the midfielder, who moved from right wing to the ’10’ role and blossomed as a result. Mbappe should have rewarded him with an assist before the opener, while the forward’s second goal owed a debt to Olise’s turn and run in the middle of the park. Alas, a Senegal tackle deprived the former Crystal Palace man of a second assist. He did at least claim ‘key pass’ bonus, and he nearly scored himself when being denied by Edouard Mendy ($4.5m). It all bodes well for Round 2.
“When Michael is on the right wing, he has the ability to drive forward, but when Michael can play in both lines, between the defence and midfield, his passing quality allows us to find our attackers. I did it because I thought it would create more cohesion. Michael can play on both sides, but the more he gets on the ball, the better. We created more danger, and Kylian’s effectiveness is a real boost for us.” – Didier Deschamps on the decision to move Michael Olise centrally, via L’Equipe
- Ousmane Dembele ($10.0m) was the least effective of France’s attackers, and indeed, he was the first of Deschamps’ starting XI to make way. Dembele and Doue coming off first did always look on the cards.
- A boost for France was seeing Jules Kounde ($5.4m) and William Saliba ($5.3m) both get through 90 minutes. Those two had fitness issues in the lead-up to the World Cup. Theo Hernandez ($5.0m) got the nod over Lucas Digne ($5.0m) at left-back, as expected, although we didn’t see a lot of him in an attacking context. Probably the stand-out at the back was Dayot Upamecano ($5.3m), who was imperious at centre-half. He’s tantalisingly situated in 4.9% of Fantasy squads, so only just qualifies for Scouting Bonus. It’ll be interesting to monitor his ownership ahead of two favourable fixtures to come.
- As for Senegal, plenty of encouragement to take from what was their trickiest-on-paper group-stage fixture. They defended stoutly in the first half, and broke dangerously.
- Jackson was actually pretty good, with his strength and link-up play – always a forte at Chelsea – causing France issues. He was very unfortunate to see a first-half shot crash off the post, while he finished superbly with an effort that was ultimately chalked off for offside. There’s always going to be some profligacy (he spurned another offside chance) but this was more good than bad from him. Ismaila Sarr, another hot-and-cold asset in FPL, was more wasteful, registering more shots (three) than any of his teammates.
- Exciting teenage attacker Ibrahim Mbaye ($4.4m) came off the bench to score after some fine footwork, although Mike Maignan ($5.0m) really should have stopped it.
- Senegal have two decent fixtures now, especially from an attacking perspective. Neither Norway nor Iraq really convinced from a defensive point of view on Tuesday, so they could get some joy in Rounds 2 and 3.
