Qatar 2022: Holders France Start Title Defense Alright!

The French team victoriously began the defense of its world title on Tuesday evening at the Al Janoub stadium, defeating Australia (4-1). The win can only do good for minds and hearts of the French, and allows Les blues to take the lead in Group D, since Danes and Tunisia separated on a parity 0-0 score.

Despite the magnitude of the score, the players of Didier Deschamps were not completely reassuring from the start. They even conceded the opener in the 9th minute courtesy Craig Goodwin. The Adelaide United midfielder took over from the left and perfectly placed the ball beyond the reach of Hugo Lloris.

The French rallied and Adrien Rabiot scored his first goal (an equalizer) for Les Blues – at he 27th minute snuffing out Australia’s early confidence which saw Mitch Duke hit a shot just wide of the uprights.

Mbappé was the provider when Olivier Giroud scored his second of the night to equal Thierry Henry’s goalscoring record for France of 51, in the second half. With so much on his shoulders, Mbappe helped himself to the fourth goal at the 68th minute.

Five minutes later, with a little more than half an hour on the clock, Giroud, who at 36 became France’s oldest player in World Cup history, found himself with a near-empty goal as a result of an excellent French press and he converted for 2-1 at the 32nd minute.