France - 1 Senegal - 1:The World Cup has lift-off and in spectacular fashion. Not since Argentina's defeat by Cameroon 12 years ago has the competition produced such a shock. As Senegal's ecstatic players danced around the pitch and hugged one another at the finish, France's trooped off knowing their aura of invincibility has been shattered.

It is too early to suggest their title defence is in tatters; Argentina responded to that opening defeat in 1990 by reaching the final. But France must surely beat Uruguay and Denmark to stay in the tournament and this performance offered no guarantee of that.

The absence of Zinedine Zidane and vulnerability of Frank Leboeuf were memorably exploited by the debutants of Senegal.

A messy first-half goal by Pape Bouba Diop, made by the lively El Hadji Diouf, was a blow from which the champions could not recover. They had enough chances to have won, stretched Senegal's impressive goalkeeper Tony Sylva and hit the crossbar, but this was not beginners' luck. The African team defended with discipline, stifled their opponents with a 4-5-1 formation and occasionally broke with menace.

France, for all their possession and territorial dominance, rarely rose above the ordinary. If that was in part because of the organisation and fierce tackling of Senegal, it also reflected the extent to which they rely on the inspiration of Zidane. Youri Djorkaeff and his second-half replacement Christophe Dugarry could not provide the needed element of surprise.

The implications of this result will be keenly felt by Sven-Goran Eriksson. The runners-up in England's group face the winners of this section in the next round, so finishing second could become an advantage. Such thoughts, though, mattered little to Senegal.

"I dreamed of this match, thought about this match and now it's come true," said Senegal's French coach Bruno Metsu. "It's a great reward for our players and for the Senegalese people. We had a tactical game plan and you have to feel satisfied when it comes off.

"We left Diouf up front on his own and deliberately blocked them in midfield. When you are up against a team like France you have to adapt. I said before this tournament that we were not going to be the Jamaica of this World Cup. Today we proved we are a serious team."

Diouf is expected to be in the Premiership next season with Liverpool and showed what talent he has. His fast, direct running exposed weaknesses in an ageing France defence and Marcel Desailly was embarrassed by the Lens striker before Diouf raced past Leboeuf and crossed for the winning goal. The 21-year-old was let down only by the frequency with which he was caught offside.

If Diouf caught the eye, Senegal's display was notable also for its physical power. Aliou Cisse epitomised the strength and tenacity of Metsu's three-man central midfield which swallowed France's threat through the middle. Pape Malick Diop never flinched at the heart of their defence.

"We played a good team who deserved to win," Patrick Vieira said. "They were more physical than us and better than us, but we will bounce back because we have no choice."

His dignity was reflected by Roger Lemerre.

"My friend Bruno Metsu came up with a plan, as I knew he would," the coach said. "Collectively and individually they stopped us."

France's best moments tended to come through Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet. The pair combined for Trezeguet to hit the post at 0-0 and, if Zidane fails to recover from his thigh injury to face Uruguay on Thursday, Lemerre might profit from switching to a 4-4-2 which allows them to play through the middle rather than having Henry on the left flank much of the time.

Not long after Trezeguet's misfortune, Senegal scored. Diouf burst past Leboeuf and crossed to the near post, where Emmanuel Petit inadvertently knocked the ball against Fabien Barthez. The rebound fell to Diop who, despite being on the ground, hooked a shot into an empty net.

Having survived a spell of heavy France pressure early in the second half, Senegal broke away for Khalilou Fadiga to hit the bar. Thereafter it was all France again, but Henry struck the woodwork with a fine lob and Sylva, who cannot get a game for Monaco, stood firm.

"We have got to make sure we come down off our cloud and get our mind straight for our next two games," Metsu said.

"It won't mean anything to get a good result against France and then go out of the tournament with three points."

Lemerre's team are left with no margin for error and might be interested to know that no team has won the World Cup after losing its opening match. The global order has been turned upside down.

SUBSTITUTES

France - Dugarry for Djorkaeff (60 mins), Cisse for Wiltord (81 mins). Senegal - None.

YELLOW CARDS

France - Petit; Senegal - Cisse.