France’s national team arrived at the 2022 World Cup as the defending champions and made sure to play the role despite all the injury issues they struggled with recently. In their first match of the tournament, France delivered a statement win that saw them beat Australia 4-1.
Things actually didn’t start great for France, as they conceded a goal in the 9th minute. Australia’s Craig Goodwin reacted well to a cross in the penalty box and sent the ball past Hugo Lloris. But it turned out this was all that the Socceroos managed to do.
France didn’t back down from their game plan after they conceded, and it proved to be the right decision. Juventus’ midfielder Adrien Rabiot scored a header in the 27th minute to make it 1-1 before Milan’s striker Olivier Giroud made it 2-1 for France just five minutes later.
The second half brought more of the same. France continued with an ultra-attacking approach and packed two more goals in Australia’s net. PSG star Kylian Mbappe scored in the 68th minute for 3-1, while Giroud added his second goal in the 71st minute for what turned out to be the final score. This was Giroud’s 51 goal for the national team, meaning that he is now tied with legendary Thierry Henry at the top of the all-time goalscoring list.
“We got a scare but reacted quickly afterward,” said Giroud after the game. “Even if we could have scored more goals, we found each other, we were efficient.”
France was favored to win it all once again before the tournament started, but the recent injuries to their key players cast some doubt on that. The team came to Qatar without their star midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, while Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema got hurt during training camp.
France now sits comfortably at the top of Group D in front of Tunisia and Denmark, which played a goalless draw earlier in the day.
