{"id":1499,"date":"2026-06-15T18:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betway.co.com\/insider\/?p=1499"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:53:15","slug":"france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"France vs Senegal – 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image source: Alamy Stock Photo<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2026 World Cup<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n


\nGroup I<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n


\nFrance vs Senegal<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n


\nMetLife Stadium,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


\nTuesday, 16 June 2026<\/span><\/p>\n


\n21:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

France and Senegal kick off their 2026 World Cup<\/a> campaigns in a highly anticipated Group I clash on June 16 \u2014 a rematch of the iconic 2002 World Cup opener.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Head-to-head<\/span><\/p>\n

The two nations have met three times across all competitions. Senegal hold the historical edge with two wins to France’s one, with no draws.<\/p>\n

Their most famous encounter was the stunning 1-0 Senegal victory over France in the 2002 World Cup group stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Team News<\/span><\/p>\n

France will be without striker Hugo Ekitike (Achilles tendon injury), but William Saliba recovered from a minor back issue and is available.<\/p>\n

Senegal, on the other hand, has captain Sadio Man\u00e9 (who missed the 2022 tournament due to injury) leading the line. Kalidou Koulibaly has been managing a minor leg issue but is expected to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nKey Players<\/span><\/p>\n

Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, France\u2019s captain and talisman, has blistering pace, clinical finishing and leadership, making him the ultimate match-winner who can decide big games in an instant.<\/p>\n

Sadio Man\u00e9, on the other hand, remains Senegal\u2019s main attacking threat. The Al-Nassr star’s experience, work rate and ability to create magic can trouble any defence when he is on song.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQuotes<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have three opponents in the group. Why focus only on France? Norway and Iraq are there too,” Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw said.<\/p>\n

“We have a historical connection with France, but we must respect every team. We have our strengths and we go into this match with hope and ambition. We are ready to write our own story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2026 World Cup – Group I Full Fixtures<\/span><\/h3>\n

\n

21:00 \u2014 Tuesday, 16 June 2026
\nFrance vs Senegal<\/p>\n

03:00 \u2014 Wednesday, 17 June 2026
\nIraq vs Norway<\/p>\n

00:00 \u2014 Wednesday, 23 June 2026
\nNorway vs Senegal<\/p>\n

23:00 \u2014 Monday, 22 June 2026
\nFrance vs Iraq<\/p>\n

21:00 \u2014 Friday, 26 June 2026
\nNorway vs France<\/p>\n

21:00 \u2014 Friday, 26 June 2026
\nSenegal vs Iraq<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2026 World Cup Action Starts with Betway Botswana<\/h2>\n

Join\u00a0Betway Botswana<\/a>\u00a0and take your sports betting to the next level with adrenaline-filled action. Follow every moment of the 2026 World Cup and bet on all 104 matches<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join our Telegram Channel<\/h3>\n

Get way more with Betway. Enjoy the thrill of sports betting, casino games, and more. Join our community for tips, bonuses, and exciting offers. #BetwaySquad<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

For all the latest sports news, betting tips and promotions follow\u00a0Betway<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Telegram<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Youtube<\/a>. Download the\u00a0Betway app<\/a>\u00a0to bet on the go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image source: Alamy Stock Photo   2026 World Cup Group I France vs Senegal MetLife Stadium,   East Rutherford, New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","category-sport","category-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nFrance vs Senegal - 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown - Betway Botswana Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Join the excitement as France faces Senegal in their 2026 World Cup Group I opener. Don't miss this thrilling rematch on June 16!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"France vs Senegal - 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown - Betway Botswana Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Join the excitement as France faces Senegal in their 2026 World Cup Group I opener. Don't miss this thrilling rematch on June 16!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Betway Botswana Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T18:37:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T12:53:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"betway.co.bw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"betway.co.bw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"betway.co.bw\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410\"},\"headline\":\"France vs Senegal – 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T18:37:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-23T12:53:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":418,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Soccer\",\"Sport\",\"World Cup\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/\",\"name\":\"France vs Senegal - 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown - Betway Botswana Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T18:37:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-23T12:53:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410\"},\"description\":\"Join the excitement as France faces Senegal in their 2026 World Cup Group I opener. Don't miss this thrilling rematch on June 16!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"France vs Senegal – 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/\",\"name\":\"Betway Botswana Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410\",\"name\":\"betway.co.bw\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"betway.co.bw\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/betway.co.com\\\/insider\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betway.co.bw\\\/insider\\\/author\\\/betway-co-bw\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"France vs Senegal - 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown - Betway Botswana Blog","description":"Join the excitement as France faces Senegal in their 2026 World Cup Group I opener. Don't miss this thrilling rematch on June 16!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"France vs Senegal - 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown - Betway Botswana Blog","og_description":"Join the excitement as France faces Senegal in their 2026 World Cup Group I opener. Don't miss this thrilling rematch on June 16!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/","og_site_name":"Betway Botswana Blog","article_published_time":"2026-06-15T18:37:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-23T12:53:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"betway.co.bw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"betway.co.bw","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/"},"author":{"name":"betway.co.bw","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#\/schema\/person\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410"},"headline":"France vs Senegal – 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown","datePublished":"2026-06-15T18:37:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-23T12:53:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/"},"wordCount":418,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg","articleSection":["Soccer","Sport","World Cup"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/","url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/","name":"France vs Senegal - 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown - Betway Botswana Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-15T18:37:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-23T12:53:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#\/schema\/person\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410"},"description":"Join the excitement as France faces Senegal in their 2026 World Cup Group I opener. Don't miss this thrilling rematch on June 16!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Kylian-Mbappe.jpg","width":800,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/france-vs-senegal-2026-world-cup-group-i-showdown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"France vs Senegal – 2026 World Cup Group I Showdown"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/","name":"Betway Botswana Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/#\/schema\/person\/5a3d00495a506a6036de4e97c3fa1410","name":"betway.co.bw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147be3db9e2f455341a2f5b03f08a76902f5070bca93af75c8fca00e33c0ea41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"betway.co.bw"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/betway.co.com\/insider"],"url":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/author\/betway-co-bw\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1499"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1504,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499\/revisions\/1504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betway.co.bw\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}