Preview: France kick off World Cup campaign against AFCON trophy-holders Senegal

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By Neel Shelat

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Didier Deschamps’ last dance with France

Didier Deschamps is set to leave his post as France’s head coach when his contract expires after the World Cup, drawing the curtain on a 14-year tenure. Of course, his most notable achievement was the 2018 World Cup victory, which enabled him to join Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer as the only people to win the World Cup as both player and manager.

While his tactics have been criticised for being too conservative at times, he can point to his consistently successful tournament record to prove their effectiveness. The 57-year-old former midfielder certainly won’t be short of attacking options this time around, as his squad features truckloads of attacking firepower in the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Désiré Doué and Rayan Cherki.

Maintaining the right balance in the XI will be key for France, so they will hope to see Deschamps find a successful formula once again.

Predicted France starting XI

Senegal set to stick to a tried and tested setup

Senegal, on the other hand, won’t need any experimentation to prepare their approach for the tournament. The Lions of Teranga were crowned African champions in Morocco back in January, though their title was subsequently stripped by CAF due to them leaving the field in protest of a refereeing decision at the end of normal time. Their federation has lodged an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but regardless of how that goes, they will largely continue to field the same side in North America.

Pape Thiaw has only made a handful of changes to the squad, bringing in a couple of youngsters like Assane Diao and Bara Sapoko Ndiaye. He could field an unchanged XI if he so desired, and isn’t expected to make many changes to what was a winning formula on the pitch. Solidity in midfield will be particularly important for their chances in this match.

Team news

All players in both squads are expected to be available for selection in this match. William Saliba has reportedly been contending with a back issue over the last few weeks that has led to his training being differently managed, but he started the last friendly before the World Cup and should remain good to go.

Key Players

Mbappé’s 12 World Cup goals have him four off Miroslav Klose’s record, so the Pichichi-holder will be keen to close the gap further. Olise could well supply him after a sensational season for Bayern Munich, but perhaps the most important player for France could be Aurélien Tchouaméni, who will have a big job to do in holding down the midfield.

Senegal will need Pathé Ciss to impose his physicality in midfield. Malick Diouf will have to put in a big defensive shift at left back, though he can pose a threat going forward too. Nicolas Jackson can cause problems with his movement up top, but he will be in for a very tough challenge against the French centre-backs.

Prediction

France should have enough attacking quality to see out a 2-0 win.

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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