DOHA (Qatar), November 23 A brace from Olivier Giroud and a goal each from Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe helpedrance, the defending champions, secure an emphatic 4-1 victory over Australia in their Group D match at Al Janoub Stadium on Tuesday night.
The World Cup holders bounced back from their early scare when Craig Goodwin gave the Socceroos a surprise lead in the 9th minute but goals from Rabiot (27th), Giroud (32nd, 74) and Mbappe (68th) paved the way for full points for coach Didier Deschamps. side.
France will next meet Denmark on November 26, which shared points with Tunisia earlier in the day in a goalless draw at the Education City Stadium and concluded its group confrontations against Tunisia on November 30.
On the other hand, Australia will meet Tunisia in the next round match on November 26 and end the group matches with a match against Denmark four days later.
The two sides met at the last World Cup, whererance narrowly beat Australia 2-1 in the group stage thanks to an own goal and a penalty, and the early goal gave the Australians a vision of victory this time around.
But that was not the case, as Mbappe and company rose to the occasion to kick off their campaign to retain the title in style.
Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann turned around, and in the absence of this year’s Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, who had to withdraw from the tournament after suffering a muscle tear during training, he called for shots on the field.
With an embarrassment of fortunes,rance have not fallen far short in the absence of the likes of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, both members of the squad that won the 2018 World Cup, both of whom were unable to travel to Qatar.
France stunned therench crowd into silence very early in the game with a superb goal as Craig Goodwin volleyed home in the ninth minute from the back post after a sensational sweeping attacking move.
The European giants showed their class in coming back elegantly to open up the opposition defence, scoring twice in five minutes either side of the 30-minute mark to go into half-time with a 2-1 lead.
Midfielder Rabiot scoredrance’s first goal of the tournament, while Giroud added the second after five minutes to give his side the lead.
In the second half,rance added two more goals in the space of three minutes to take a 4-1 lead.
Giroud scored his second goal of the day in the 71st minute after Mbappe had made it 3-1 three minutes earlier.
The Australians had their share of chances which included Jackson Irvin’s effort hitting the post just before half-time.
– Jans
Armstrong / kHz /
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