France’s stars shine in resounding 4-1 win over Australia

By Eurosport

GOALS from Olivier Giroud – who got two and equalled Thierry Henry’s French scoring record – Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe brought the holders from behind to beat Australia in another extremely enjoyable match.

They take control of Group C following Denmark’s draw with Tunisia earlier in the day, and will not surrender their title easily.

Australia took a shock lead on nine minutes, Craig Goodwin finishing well after great work by Harry Souttar and Matt Leckie. But inspired by the irrepressible Kylian Mbappe, France came back hard, and two goals in five minutes, from Rabiot and Giroud, gave them a half-time lead.

Things were slow after the break, France conserving energy and protecting the lead while Australia looked to hang on in the game.

But just after the hour, France exploded again to finish the contest, fine goals by Mbappe and Giroud underlining the extent of their superiority and reminding the world that, for all their faults, their title won’t be relinquished without a fight.

Talking point

France won the 2018 World cup in spite of, not because of Dider Deschamps, whose influence made a phenomenal collection of attackers part of a team far more negative than it needed to be.

For that reason, France haven’t improved in the intervening four years, and though they’ve the players to beat any team on any day, it’d be surprising were they to retain their title because they don’t look like a cohesive unit.

Of course, they are missing important players – Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Karim Benzema – but they didn’t look great with them, because their style seems to be to get the ball to Kylian Mbappe and hope he does something. It can work because Mbappe is fantastic, but it is not likely to work because – as PSG can testify – high-end football competitions are usually decided by teams, not individuals.

Man of the match

Kylian Mbappe (France) A constant menace, his all-round game devastated Australia, and in this mood and form, he’ll be too good for better teams than Australia.

Player rating

France: Lloris 6, Pavard 6, Konate 6, Upamecano 6, Hernandez 6, Tchouameni 7, Rabiot 7, Griezmann 6, Dembele 7, Giroud 7, Mbappe 8. Subs: Hernandez 7, Fofana 6, Coman 6, Thuram 6.

Australia: Ryan 6, Atkinson 5, Rowles 5, Soutter 7, Behich 6, Mooy 5, Irvine 6, McGree 5, Leckie 6, Duke 5, Goodwin 6. Subs: Cummings 6, Mabil 6, Kuol 6, Baccus 6, Degenek 6.

Key stat

Olivier Giroud now has 51 goals for France, so becomes his country’s joint-top goalscorer, with Thierry Henry.

CAPTIONS:

Top: France’s Olivier Giroud scores his side’s fourth goal during the World Cup group D soccer match between France and Australia, at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Photo: AP Photo/Christophe Ena and published by Yahoo!News

Insert: Australia’s Craig Goodwin, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup group D soccer match between France and Australia, at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Photo: AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin and published by Yahoo!News

Front Page: France’s Olivier Giroud celebrate after he scored during the World Cup group D soccer match between France and Australia, at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Photo: AP Photo/Frank Augstein and published by Yahoo!News

Also read: Mexico 0-0 Poland: Robert Lewandowski misses penalty as cagey Group C clash ends goalless 

Bale salvages 1-1 draw for Wales against US in World Cup

 World Cup dismay for Qatar as Ecuador wins opening game

Police set up centre to suppress World Cup gambling

Finally, all 64 World Cup matches to watch live on free TV

Thais could probably watch all World Cup soccer matches live: Anucha

Only some, not all, World Cup matches to watch live on free TV: Prawit

NBTC under fire for funding World Cup licence purchase

600m of 1.6 billion baht needed to buy World Cup 2022 broadcast rights approved