Cissé made his international debut against Belgium at the age of 21, coming on as a 48th-minute substitute for David Trezeguet on 18 May 2002. The team manager Roger Lemerre included Cissé in his 23-man squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In the tournament, he played in all of the group matches against Senegal, Uruguay, and Denmark, coming on as a substitute in all three games, but France were eliminated in the World Cup group stages. His first goal in the senior tournament came on 7 September 2002 against Cyprus in the Euro 2004 qualifiers. Cissé was part of the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup championship team. He scored his only goal of the tournament from the penalty spot in France's 1–0 win against Colombia on 18 June 2003.