The multi-talented French side were humiliated by Papa Diop’s scrambled effort after 30 minutes and though they piled forward for the remainder of the contest there was no way through the Senegalese defence.

It was the most stunning start to a World Cup since nine-man Cameroon defeated Argentina 12 years ago and could have implications for England.

Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men know the top two teams in their Group F will take on the qualifers from pool A in the last 16.

Tournament favourites France were expected to comfortably advance in top spot, but that already looks unlikely.

Senegal’s victory was based initially on the impressive efforts of striker El Hadji Diouf, whose pace was too much for the ageing French defence, then on a rearguard action which kept their illustrious opponents at bay even though David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry both struck the woodwork.

Senegal’s victory was even more ironic given the former French colony are in the interesting position of having a complete squad of French-based players while the holders’ line-up contained only one man, former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf, who earns his living at home.

The link also extended to the seven Premiership-based Frenchmen, with Patrick Vieira having been born in Senegal before his parents moved to Europe when the Arsenal midfielder was just seven.

However, any sense of familiarity was quickly exploded as Diouf ran riot.

Leboeuf and his central defensive colleague Marcel Desailly were both left on their backsides as the striker’s explosive pace exposed the defensive frailties which had not existed four years ago.

After just five minutes, Diouf shot down the right wing and squared for Fadiga whose weak effort from the edge of the box was easily collected by Fabien Barthez.

His next run came along the left hand flank, when Lebeouf was forced to haul him down.

In the absence of Zinedine Zidane, France were struggling badly and it took them 15 minutes to make any impact on the stout Senegal defence and then it was a long ball from Barthez which Trezeguet almost latched onto.

Emmanuel Petit gave Henry space with a neat reverse pass and when the Arsenal front-man slid a perfect ball into Trezeguet’s path.

The Juventus man eliminated the keeper with his first-time shot, only to see it come crashing back off the post.

Diouf did not read Khalilou Fadiga’s attempted reverse pass into the penalty area, but the striker used his pass to sweep past Leboeuf on the half hour to set up the opening goal.

In truth, the low cross was not the best but Petit slid in to get the first touch and only succeeded in knocking it into Barthez, who inadvertently flicked it back into the six-yard box where Diop touched it home from a sitting position.

Youri Djorkaeff led the fightback, dropping a fantastic ball behind the Senegalese defence which David Trezeguet could not quite reach.

Tony Sylva easily saved Djorkaeff’s 30-yard free-kick before the Bolton man fired over from a similar distance.

As the half-time whistle blew, France seemed to have established a measure of control without gaining a desperately needed equaliser, although Petit was the first man into the book for a scything tackle on Diouf as he threatened once more.

Aliou Cisse joined Petit in the yellow card club five minutes after the interval when he hacked Desailly down but Senegal’s resolve showed little sign of weakening even if the tide was growing against them.

Trezeguet flicked a header across goal after Lilian Thuram burst downfield, then Henry should have done better than to head Sylvain Wiltord’s deep cross tamely over from an unmarked position at the far post.

Sylva reacted quickly after a long range Djorkaeff effort had spilled from his grasp, palming behind for a corner as Trezeguet looked to pounce.

French coach Roger Lemerre threw on Christophe Dugarry for Djorkaeff as the game past the hour mark with his team still behind.

Dugarry’s first slice of the action was to volley a cross to the far post which Trezeguet could not quite reach.

Diouf was starting to let himself down by being caught offside at regular intervals but Fadiga took up the challenge and flashed a shot against the bar after leaving Leboeuf stranded.

Within a minute, Henry had also hit the bar, with a delicate curling shot from the edge of the area.

The belief seemed to visibly drain from the French side. They still pushed forward but without any real conviction.

Lebeouf’s crisp 20-yard drive was easily saved by Sylva and the Senegal keeper then parried away an injury-time drive from Henry to send his team into ecstasy at the final whistle and leave the favourites with huge problems.