Mamadou Sarr’s father Pape was a member of the Senegal squad at that tournament, and the Chelsea defender will hope history repeats itself when the African side take on Malo Gusto’s France in New Jersey on Tuesday.

The result in 2002 remains arguably the greatest shock in World Cup history. France headed to Japan and South Korea as the reigning world and European champions. They were set upon retaining their global prize, won so impressively on home soil in 1998, and were the favourites for the tournament.

Roger Lemerre’s squad were captained by Chelsea skipper Marcel Desailly, and his Blues team-mate Emmanuel Petit was also included. Frank Leboeuf had left the Bridge by then, while Claude Makelele was a year away from joining from Real Madrid.

Patrick Vieira, Sylvain Wiltord and Thierry Henry had just helped Arsenal win the Double, although Zinedine Zidane suffered a thigh injury on the eve of the tournament that ruled him out of Les Bleus’ first two games.

Senegal had never previously competed at a World Cup, although they travelled to Asia fresh off reaching the Africa Cup of Nations final, which they had only lost to Cameroon on penalties. Of Senegal’s 23-man squad, 21 played their club football in France. Plenty would become household names on the global stage after a thrilling few weeks.

Desailly and Petit both started for France, as did Leboeuf, while Sarr, then at Lens, was on Senegal’s bench.

The Lions of Teranga quickly showed their dynamism and pace going forward, although their goal on the half-hour still came as a surprise. El-Hadji Diouf skipped away from the sliding Leboeuf and centred, with the ball eventually falling at Papa Bouba Diop’s feet. From a couple of yards out, he couldn’t miss.

What followed was an iconic celebration from the midfielder, who would go on to play for Fulham and Portsmouth. He removed his shirt and, along with his team-mates, danced around it by the corner flag. It became an enduring image of that summer’s tournament.

Senegal defended diligently and posed a threat on the counter. Khalilou Fadiga struck the crossbar, while Henry came closest to equalising for France with a looping effort that also hit the woodwork.

It finished 1-0 and sent shockwaves around the globe. For France, things only got worse. They drew 0-0 with Uruguay before being dumped out of the tournament at the group stage following a 2-0 loss to Denmark. They remain the only defending champion to exit a World Cup without scoring a goal – and that despite possessing the top scorers in the Premier League (Henry), Serie A (David Trezeguet) and Ligue 1 (Djibril Cisse).

For Senegal, the party was just beginning. They drew 1-1 with Denmark – Sarr’s only appearance at the tournament - and 3-3 with Uruguay, progressing in second place despite throwing away a three-goal lead against the South American side.

That set up a last-16 showdown with Sweden, who they beat 2-1 with a golden goal scored by Henri Camara in extra-time. Their World Cup dream was eventually ended at the quarter-final stage by Turkey, who netted a golden goal of their own to settle a tight contest. Nonetheless, Senegal had done their nation and their continent proud.

At the first World Cup after the tragic death of Diop in 2020, Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly sealed Senegal’s progression to the knockout round by scoring the winner against Ecuador in their final group game in Qatar.

After celebrating with an image of Diop in front of the Senegal fans, Koulibaly then paid tribute to the former midfielder, and the legacy he left behind after his heroics two decades early.

‘It’s a special day for all of us, for all Senegalese people, and we wanted to do something special for him, too,’ said Koulibaly.

‘He was a defining part of our childhood and Senegalese football as a whole. When he passed away, it was a huge loss for us all. Today was really for him. Our hearts were set on doing well.’

No doubt Diop’s memory will be at the forefront of Senegalese and French minds ahead of this evening's rematch, too. The question now is: will history repeat itself?