EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Ahead of their Group I World Cup clash on Tuesday, two-time World Cup champion France and 2002 Cinderella story Senegal are preparing to write a new chapter in their unique shared football history, a rivalry rooted in Senegal’s former status as a French colony and defined by one of the most shocking upsets in modern tournament history.
In the opening match of the 2002 World Cup, then-defending champion France fell 1-0 to the unheralded Senegalese side, nicknamed the Lions of Teranga. The historic upset sent waves of celebration across Senegal, where then-President Abdoulaye Wade declared an immediate national holiday to honor the win. Papa Bouba Diop scored the game’s only goal in the 30th minute, and Senegal went on to reach the quarterfinals before bowing out to Turkey, while France left the tournament winless and eliminated in the group stage – a result that remains one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
More than two decades later, the rematch has generated huge global attention, though both sides have downplayed any talk of revenge for the 2002 result. For France, six of its current squad were not even born when the 2002 upset occurred. Midfielder N’Golo Kanté emphasized Monday that the team is focused on progress in the current tournament, not settling old scores.
“Not for revenge do we want to win, but we want to go as far as possible in this competition,” Kanté said through a translator. “Our main opponent is ourselves. We cannot see ourselves too beautiful or too strong.”
French head coach Didier Deschamps echoed that sentiment, noting that the 2002 result is history, and Tuesday’s match will be an entirely new contest. The two-time World Cup winner (as a player in 1998 and head coach in 2018) is on the cusp of a major coaching milestone Tuesday: the match will mark his 20th World Cup game at the helm of Les Bleus, just five games short of Helmut Schön’s all-time record for World Cup matches coached, set with West Germany. Deschamps, who will retire from his post this summer after 12 years leading the French national team, is one of only three people in history to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach, alongside Brazil’s Mário Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer. France, currently ranked third in the global FIFA rankings, is aiming to reach its third consecutive World Cup final, having won in 2018 and fallen to Argentina in a penalty shootout in the 2022 final.
For Senegal, the match carries deep symbolic weight, and current head coach Pape Thiaw brings unique personal context to the contest. Thiaw was a member of the 2002 Senegalese squad, appearing in the team’s round of 16 upset win over Sweden. Ahead of Tuesday’s game, he plans to pass on lessons learned from Bruno Metsu, the legendary late head coach who led the 2002 side to its iconic run.
“Of course, there is going to be a Bruno effect when I’m going to be talking to my players tomorrow,” Thiaw said through a translator. “I will also add my personal touch and also add what Bruno taught me along the way.”
Thiaw acknowledged that the match against France has unique meaning beyond football, given the two countries’ shared historical ties. “We know that a game between France and Senegal is a very symbolic game,” he said.
Off the pitch, a visa issue has prevented many fans traveling directly from Senegal from entering the U.S. for the match, but Thiaw says he still expects a massive show of Senegalese support at MetLife Stadium, thanks to the large expatriate Senegalese community in the country. “Of course we’d like to have our fans. We know what they can do for us. They push us,” Thiaw said. “But we have a major Senegalese community and we know that the Senegalese is very patriotic and they like their national team. You will see this tomorrow. You won’t even believe it that no Senegalese came over from Senegal.”
Senegal, ranked 16th globally, comes into the match with its own recent continental success: the side won the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations, but its 2024 title defense ended in controversy after a 1-0 final win over Morocco was overturned to a 3-0 forfeit loss when Senegal players left the pitch for 15 minutes during stoppage time to protest a late penalty awarded to Morocco. Senegal has appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and Thiaw made clear the team still considers itself the rightful African champion. “For me we are champions of Africa, full stop,” he said.
Weather conditions are not expected to be a major factor for the contest, which kicks off at 3 p.m. EDT at MetLife Stadium. Forecasters call for sunny skies with a kickoff temperature of roughly 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius), a noticeable drop from the extreme heat seen in the region over the previous weekend. France prepared for the conditions during training sessions at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts after arriving in the U.S. last Wednesday, with Kanté noting the team had already adjusted to playing in warm, sunny conditions.