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France head coach Didier Deschamps dismissed that the side is in a mood for revenge during their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign against Senegal, the very side which defeated them by a narrow 1-0 margin 24 years ago, setting the tone for France's shocking group stage exit in the 2002 edition, where they headed as the defending champions.
Kylian Mbappe-led France will start their bid for the third FIFA World Cup star on their shirt as they take on Senegal at New Jersey on Wednesday. Senegal made it to the round of 16 during the last 2022 edition in Qatar and made it to the quarterfinals way back in the 2002 edition. Ahead of the match, Deschamps has expressed that "there is no revenge in football", pointing out that most of the players in the squad were not even born to witness their shocking loss in the WC campaign opener 24 years back. Ahead of the match, Deschamps told media personnel, "Listen, this was history, but even (midfielder) N'Golo (Kante), I am not sure he saw the game. Nearly all of my players were not born in 2002. I know that you like this word 'revenge', but there is no revenge in football." The 2018 edition champions, who finished as runners-up to a Lionel Messi-led Argentina back in the 2022 edition, will be under a lot of scrutiny in New Jersey, as their captain and superstar striker, Kylian Mbappe, is under immense criticism from experts despite consistent performances in Real Madrid's two seasons without any major title. That criticism has followed him right to the US, as he failed to score against the Ivory Coast and Northern Ireland in the warm-up friendlies. Deschamps highlighted that Senegal is a team with "excellent players who play in the best clubs". "They have got an offensive capacity, their midfield is excellent. When you are part of the best teams, you have got everything," he added. The 35-year-old Kante, a crucial part of France's WC winning 2018 squad, is back in the side after giving the previous World Cup a miss due to injury and expects a tough battle with Senegal in the midfield. "We want to be part of this squad and to have everyone on board, everybody counts, everybody is important. I do believe that it is important to have trust in our team. We need to go as far as possible in the competition ... Of course, our main opponent is ourselves. We need to stay together, concentrated," signed off Kante. (ANI)
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