EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- Ultimately, there was to be no repeat of Senegal's historic 1-0 FIFA World Cup victory over France in 2002 as the pair met for a rematch at the MetLife Stadium in their 2026 tournament opener on Tuesday.
This time, Les Bleus were the victors, eclipsing Africa's champions 3-1 in front of 80,000 with Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise finding their feet - and chemistry - in the second half to take the contest beyond the Teranga Lions.
There are positives to take for Senegal -- they were not utterly outclassed -- but reasons for optimism ought to be tempered by some lingering concerns for head coach Pape Thiaw, as he looks to build a team that can at least reach the quarterfinals of this competition.
On the positive side, Senegal -- as Morocco had done in their opener against Brazil -- looked comfortably the better side over the first 20 minutes, and had the chances to take control of the contest before the break.
Before the first water break, Nicolas Jackson was a handful for France to deal with, but only in fits and starts. He hit the woodwork, having broken down the left, and held off a defender before getting a shot away towards Mike Maignan's goal.
Just before half time, they could have had another, with Ismaïla Sarr, finding space, miscalculating his attempt and sending his shot over the bar. It was a bad one for a player who has looked so sharp and so dangerous in front of goal this season for Crystal Palace, and it would come back to haunt the Lions.
At half-time, Senegal had registered five shots to France's one - the Lions were in the ascendency, but as had been the case with Morocco against Brazil, they'd failed to make their chances count.
After the break, with France switching their attack to place Michael Olise in a more central role, giving him greater influence over the play and shunting Ousmane Dembélé out wide, they began to find their rhythm and turn the screw.
Édouard Mendy was forced in to big blocks in the 52nd and 56th minutes as Senegal wilted as an attacking force and France pressed forward with abandon, before Sadio Mané's mindless challenge on Mbappe in the box was recommended for a penalty by VAR, only for the referee to ignore his colleagues and stick with the on-field decision.
By this point, a France opener only seemed a matter of time, with Didier Deschamps' side consistently winning their individual duels and Senegal struggling to reassert their early control.
Despite the game steadily pulling away from his team, Thiaw didn't react, even though his midfielders were increasingly looking like passengers.
Mbappe eventually broke the deadlock, and only then did Thiaw ring the changes, introducing the dynamism of Habib Diarra and youngster Ibrahim Mbaye to give the Lions extra zip in attack.
Substitute Bradley Barcola added a second to take the contest beyond Senegal, with Thiaw only then introducing playmaker Iliman Ndiaye, along with forward Bamba Dieng, to try and salvage something.
Mbappe added an emphatic third in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but not before wonderkid Mbaye had pulled one back for the West Africans a minute before - for at least a few moments, giving the Lions hope of an unlikely point.
The Paris Saint-Germain youngster, tipped as one of the potential breakout stars of the tournament, certainly lived up to expectations with a stunning goal, flummoxing the French defenders with some fine footwork, putting them off balance, before thumping a finish at Maignan and into the roof of the France net.
It was a glimpse - as we saw at the Africa Cup of Nations - of what the youngster was capable of, as a turn of pace and moment of invention put France on the backfoot in a way that Mane had failed to do across the entirety of the contest.
The 34-year-old's footwork was uncharacteristically poor, with Mane directly losing possession on six separate occasions - more than any other player on the pitch.
It would be too reactionary to suggest that the Liverpool great's failure to have an impact against France, coupled with Mbaye's star cameo, ought to prompt Thiaw to drop his talisman and introduce the teenager from the start against Norway, but he must at least consider giving more prominence within his plans to the lightning teenager.
Thiaw will also be concerned with how his midfield faded in the second half, in the case of 36-year-old Idrissa Gana Gueye, the heat of New Jersey was always going to be a challenge, but Pape Gueye and Lamine Camara's inability to reassert themselves ought to come as a concern.
Then there is returning centreback Kalidou Koulibaly, who played just six minutes in a pre-tournament friendly against Saudi Arabia before being called upon to neutralise Mbappe in Tuesday's World Cup opener.
Early on, he demonstrated his enduring class, keeping calm to intercept an Mbappe-destined ball forward, ensuring a France move broke down and Senegal were able to clear their lines.
As the game wore on, however, he looked increasingly ragged and increasingly rusty. Just before half time, he sloppily gave away a corner, after the break, he struggled to keep pace with the Real Madrid superstar, and was too far away from him when Mbappe accelerated forward before firing home his opener.
Koulibaly wasn't a disaster -- he registered four tackles and five clearances -- as many significant defensive contributions as any other player on the pitch, but a combination of injury, age and a slight sluggishness of action and mind has taken him a few rungs down from the elite centreback he once was.
An opening defeat puts pressure on Senegal heading into their second game against an impressive Norway this weekend.
Koulibaly, Gueye, Mane all need to recover - and fast - to be ready in time, while Thiaw must decide whether the changing of the guard that was surely coming after the tournament, may need to be accelerated.