FRANCE beat Australia 4-1 in their opening World Cup match as Olivier Giroud bagged a brace.
The ex-Chelsea and Arsenal striker drew level with Thierry Henry at the top of the France scoring charts with his double.
Craig Goodwin made it 1-0 to the underdogs early but goals from Giroud and one each from Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe sealed an important win for Les Bleus.
- Start time: 7pm BST
- TV/Live stream: BBC One
- France XI: Lloris; Pavard, Upamecano, Konate, Lucas Hernandez; Rabiot, Tchouameni; Mbappe, Griezmann, Dembele; Giroud
- Australia XI: Ryan; Behich, Rowels, Souttar, Atkinson; Irvine, Mooy, McGree; Goodwin, Duke, Leckie
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A round-up of today’s action…
Today in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, we had FOUR games lined up for you on SunSport, and what a day of football it was.
We kicked off with the shock result of the tournament so far, as Lionel Messi’s Argentina were beaten 2-1 by Saudi Arabia, thanks to an Al-Dawsari screamer.
We then saw Denmark take on Tunisia, as Christian Eriksen and co were held to a 0-0 draw in Group D.
Up next was Poland against Mexico which resulted in another 0-0, despite Polish star striker Robert Lewandowski missing a penalty, as he continues his unwanted streak of never scoring at a World Cup.
Fortunately, we had goals a plenty to round up the day as defending champions France beat Australia 4-1…
The game was lit up by special performances from the Parisian Prince, Kylian Mbappe, and the handsome devil that has the footballing streets in a choke-hold, Olivier Giroud.
That is all from us here on SunSport for tonight, but be sure to join us again tomorrow at 10am, for another full day of World Cup action.
Thank you for reading, and catch you tomorrow, good night.
Who’s up next?
Up next for France they face what may well be a tougher test as they are up against Denmark in just four days time.
As for Australia, they will be grateful that they don’t have to play the world champions again, and they face a slightly easier opponent in Tunisia on Saturday.
Both teams will back themselves to win the next one, as they both gave a pretty good account of themselves tonight, despite the scoreline maybe not reflecting that…
Giroud makes history.
This game was lit up by two truly magical football players, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud.
But it is the latter of those who wrote his name into the history books tonight.
Le Buteur de Charme was in the mood tonight, and scored a tap in and a header to equal Thierry Henry’s 51 goals for the French National team.
He is perhaps one of the most underrated players of his generation, so it is so good to see him get the plaudits that he deserves.
What a player, and what a performance.
Olivier Giroud matched Thierry Henry’s record of 51 goals for France.Credit: AP
Allez Les Bleus!
It is a great start to the 2022 World Cup for injury-plagued France.
It looked as though the ‘Champions Curse” was looking to sweep up another victim tonight when Craig Goodwin opened the scoring for Australia.
But Deschamps’ ‘Champagne Blues’ found a way through, with much thanks in order to Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe.
Lucas Hernandez was another injury to add to the list, but he was replaced by his brother, who is also a world-class full back.
In the second half, they hardly looked like conceding as Giroud and Mbappe wrapped up the win, with the former equalling Thierry Henry’s record of 51 goals for the French national team.
FT. France 4-1 Australia.
The final whistle goes, and the defending champions are off to a flying start!
90+5. France 4-1 Australia.
Mbappe just looks to get the beating of his man there, but it is pulled back for a foul by the Frenchman.
This game has gone very flat now, and both teams seem content with the result as it stands.
90+3. France 4-1 Australia.
Plenty of fans can be seen leaving the stadium, but one man staying inside the Al Janoub Stadium is Martin Lipton, who had the following to say on the matter:
“Lot of punters don’t appear to like staying to the end here.
“Not sure why the rush. It’s not as if they’ve got any local boozers that are getting ready for last orders.
“Is a somewhat surreal atmosphere, though.
“This is a World Cup game, including some of the finest players on the planet, with every chance of a few more goals.
“And half of the fans have sneaked out already. Odd.”
90. France 4-1 Australia.
There are seven minutes of added time here in Qatar.
90. France 4-1 Australia.
Very nearly a fifth for France!
But for a sensational stop by Matty Ryan!
It was Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate who was denied a headed goal following a corner.
89. France 4-1 Australia.
Two more French substitutions…
Marcus Thuram and Jules Kounde are on in place of Olivier Giroud and Benjamin Pavard.
A huge smile on the face of Giroud, you just have to be happy for him, what a player.
88. France 4-1 Australia.
Fofana has almost as much space in midfield there as there is in the vast Australian outback.
He picks out Kingsley Coman on the right-hand side, but the Bayern Munich man’s delivery is poor, and collected by Matty Ryan.
86. France 4-1 Australia.
Another double change for Australia.
Milos Degenek and Keanu Baccus are on in place of Jackson Irvine and Nathaniel Atkinson.
84. France 4-1 Australia.
Martin Lipton has an update for us on the glowing French fans in Qatar…
“Finally getting a bit of “Allez les bleus” from the French fans.
“They’re a tough bunch to please. Do they win the World Cup every time or something?
“Jackson Irvine has finally been booked. Suggestion floating around media tribune was that it might have been for his 15th foul.
“Might not have been that many but feels like he’s totted up double figures.”
That is Martin Lipton from the Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar.
82. France 4-1 Australia.
Mbappe drives towards the Aussie defence but instead of shooting tries to pick out Olivier Giroud on a hat-trick.
Well cleared by Australia.
80. France 4-1 Australia.
Perhaps somewhat surprising that France are leaving Mbappe on with the game against Denmark approaching in four days time.
The game is won here, so it makes sense to rest your star man.
However, there is good reason that I am not the French manager, so I reckon Deschamps knows his star striker better than I do…
77. France 4-1 Australia.
There are two changes for each side.
Kingsley Coman and Fofana are on for Tchouameni and Dembele in dark blue.
For Australia, 18-Year-Old Garang Kuol is on, alongside Awer Mabil in replacement of Goodwin and McGree.
75. France 4-1 Australia.
Martin Lipton can hardly contain his excitement in Qatar, watching Mbappe and Giroud light up the Al Janoub Stadium, this is his reaction to Giroud’s record-levelling finish:
“Classic centre-forward downward header. The ones he scored for Arsenal and Chelsea a few times.
“Aussies now as silent as they were when England were thrashing India to win the T20 World Cup the other week. And that doesn’t happen too often.”
He couldn’t help but leave out the cricket, but we have to enjoy these moments when they come around, so good on him.
That is Martin Lipton, live in Qatar.
72. France 4-1 Australia.
It is four for France, and Olivier Giroud equals Thierry Henry’s record goal tally!
51 goals for France for Olivier, and deadly “le buteur de charme” has arrived in Qatar.
That translates to ‘The Charm Striker’ if you are not fluent.
70. France 3-1 Australia.
He starts the move on the left-hand side with a shot that evades the goal, but finds Ousmane Dembele.
The Barcelona wide man then gets the ball on his left foot, and whips the ball in towards the head of Mbappe.
It is the Parisian Prince then who turns a header onto the inside of the post, which bounces over the goal line.
Great finish from the Fine Flying Frenchman.
68. France 3-1 Australia.
It’s three for France!
And it is that man, Kylian Mbappe!
66. France 2-1 Australia.
Tchouameni is caught in midfield by Irvine and goes down clutching his ankle.
He was just stood on by the Australian, who has a better moustache than my Movember attempt, that is for sure…
64. France 2-1 Australia.
Problems are coming for The Aussies now, as France continue to build attacks on the Australian goal.
Mbappe is still yet to light up the 2022 World Cup, and we have Martin Lipton’s thoughts on his performance from Qatar:
“Banner behind Ryan’s goal hails “les irresistibles francais”.
“You don’t need a degree in modern languages to translate (I haven’t got one, by the way).
“They certainly were irresistible in Russia, mainly because Mbappe was electric and deadly.
“He normally is. But not tonight.
“Maybe he’s just getting his bad one out of the way early.”
That is from Martin Lipton, not impressed with Killer Kylian in Qatar so far…
60. France 2-1 Australia.
Just as we say that, France and Mbappe almost turn on the style.
A lovely give and go between Mbappe and Giroud sees the latter backheel the ball into the path of Mbappe…
He is baring down on the Aussie centre-half, who seems a few yards in front of him, and just about manages to put it out for a corner.
58. France 2-1 Australia.
A bit conservative as we approach the hour mark in Qatar, Australia are staying compact and not taking too many risks at the moment.
As for the French, they have dropped the tempo a bit themselves and the urgency has gone, which could suit Australia later in the game.
56. France 2-1 Australia.
A sensible sub for Australia, as Mitchell Duke leaves the field to be replaced by Jason Cummings.
Duke did a lot of tireless running in the game so far, which is often a thankless task.
Not to mention that he almost had goal of the tournament on his CV earlier on in the game…
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
