France's new record goalscorer Kylian Mbappe is not out to prove his critics wrong at the World Cup.

Instead, Mbappe's focus is simply on driving France to glory.

He got off to a good start, with his double, which included a magnificent long-range strike, propelling Les Bleus to a 3-1 win over Senegal in their opening Group I game.

In the process, Mbappe moved onto 58 France goals, making him the nation's record goalscorer, ahead of Olivier Giroud.

Mbappe became the third player to score for France in three different World Cup editions (2018, 2022 and 2026), joining Michel Platini and Dominique Rocheteau, who both achieved the feat between 1978 and 1986.

The 27-year-old is now on 14 World Cup goals. That temporarily took him past Lionel Messi, though the Argentina great then netted a hat-trick against Algeria to join record holder Miroslav Klose on 16 goals in the finals.

Mbappe came into this tournament off the back of netting 43 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid, but he came under fire from Los Blancos fans towards the end of the season. However, that is not playing on his mind.

"I play to mark the history of my country and make sure that my team is in the final and win the World Cup," he told French media post-match.

"There is no revenge [against critics]. If I started playing for all the people who criticise me and to shut them up, I would have to play until I'm 80.

"After my brace, I thought about my relatives, my family, my close friends who were here today. Every time I score, it's for them.

"It gives us a bit more peace of mind, although you're never really relaxed at a World Cup. We've seen it with other teams – winning is never easy.

"It wasn't straightforward, but we know we're capable of scoring at any moment."

Kylian Mbappé didn't have a great first half.

But he was unrecognisable after the break, and his two goals earn France a 3-1 win over Senegal to kick off their 2026 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/V0z88MTCVD

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 16, 2026

France attempted just one shot in the first half, their lowest total in a World Cup group-stage match since Opta began analysing the competition (1966).

However, Les Bleus came good after the break, with Mbappe's goals coming either side of Bradley Barcola making it 2-0.

France have won each of their last seven opening matches at major tournaments, including their four most recent World Cup openers since 2014 – just one fewer victory than they managed across their first 13 participations in the competition (W5 D3 L5).

"It's a relief," Didier Deschamps told RMC.

"We were a bit apprehensive and tense. They were a good team too. We were able to play a bit more freely by changing the positioning of Ousmane [Dembele] and Michael [Olise]. Barcola was a real threat as well.

"Winning the first match isn't decisive in a four-team group. French fans travel from far and wide, it's expensive. Football is magical when you win and can share the emotions."

Mbappe broke the deadlock in the 66th minute, after he had seen what appeared to be a clear penalty appeal turned down.

France's opener came after Mbappe latched onto a terrific pass from Olise, who has now registered 10 goal involvements in 18 international appearances (seven goals, three assists).

"There was a lot of wastefulness on both sides," Deschamps added. 

"They could have punished us. However, we were more consistent in the second half. We hurt them. We're going to savour this. We were up against a tough opponent with a lot of quality. We've gotten used to winning these matches, but they're not decisive."

Excluding their very first match (a 1-0 win against France in 2002), Senegal have conceded at least one goal in every one of their World Cup games; their current run of 12 games without a clean sheet is the second-longest active streak in the competition, behind only Saudi Arabia (17).

"We weren't able to execute our game plan," said goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

"We knew we had to raise our level in the second half and be more clinical going forward.

"We only managed to do that in spells, whereas against teams like this you have to be meticulous and leave nothing to chance because you're up against pure talent. The first game is behind us now, we have to learn from it and turn our attention to Norway."