Khalilou Fadiga says Senegal did not walk into Seoul in 2002 as a team looking to spring a surprise. It arrived as a side that had been told, from the day of the draw, that the match had already begun. France, the reigning world champion, had underestimated the opener. Senegal won anyway, and the result still defines how both teams are remembered.

The reason the match keeps returning now is simple: France vs Senegal is not just a scoreline from the past, but a turning point that still explains how the two sides were viewed after it. Fadiga said Bruno Metsu warned the squad that the contest had started the moment the pairing was made, and that the team felt the ignorance of French coaches and officials who knew little about Senegal. He added that three-quarters of the squad had been trained in France and played in the French league, a detail that made the dismissal sting even more.

That is why the victory landed as more than an upset. Fadiga said Senegal forced respect from people who did not know the team, while those in Africa and around the players' club circles already understood its level. The win, he said, helped put things back in order for a side that some had treated lightly. In practical terms, Senegal had shown that a team built from players developed in France could still arrive in a World Cup opener and dictate the terms of the night.

David Trezeguet described the other side of the same match in blunt terms. France, he said, knew its own strengths after winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 and believed it was in place to win again. But it did not know Senegal well enough. The Africans put France in difficulty, hit the post, and forced a very good match from Tony Silva. Once Senegal scored on a counterattack, Trezeguet said, France never found the solutions it needed.

His reflection sharpens the bigger point. France was not beaten by chance alone; it was beaten by a team it had not properly studied, at a moment when confidence may have run ahead of preparation. Trezeguet also said the defeat exposed the possibility that the French side was reaching the end of a cycle after its 1998 and 2000 titles, and that changes followed the tournament because they are necessary in every national team. Senegal left Seoul with a statement victory. France left with a reminder that status does not protect a side once the match begins.

For Fadiga, the memory still carries the same force: Senegal had to force respect before it could receive it. For Trezeguet, the lesson was harsher but just as durable. The opening match in Seoul did not only start a World Cup for two teams. It ended a certain way of seeing them.