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Olivier Giroud is now the record scorer for the French national team – along with Thierry Henry
Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Scene of the game:
There had already been a sensation with Saudi Arabia's 2-1 win against Argentina on the third day of the World Cup, after nine minutes Australia against France smelled like the next one: Mathew Leckie fitted Craig Goodwin to the second post and the Adelaide United striker put the underdog ahead against the defending champions.
Result:
France turned the game against Australia and won 4:1 (2:1).
Here is the match report.
First half:
It took just under half an hour for the French to shake off the shock of falling behind early on.
A cross from the half-field landed on the head of Adrien Rabiot just before the six-yard box, who scored to make it 1-1 (27th minute).
It was Rabiot who kept the overview a few minutes later in the penalty area.
He found Olivier Giroud, who made it 2-1 with his 50th goal in the national team (32nd).
Shortly before the break it got wild again: first Kylian Mbappé missed the 3-1, then Jackson Irvine from second division FC St. Pauli headed the post (45 + 2).
Starting eleven instead of vacation:
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté could actually take care of a nice short vacation after the nomination of the French World Cup squad - he was not among the 26 chosen.
Then player after player fell out and among the replacements was the 23-year-old, who suddenly rose in the eyes of national coach Didier Deschamps to such an extent that he was one of the starting XI at the start of the World Cup.
He repaid it with a reasonable performance.
Second half:
The world champion now had the game under control and created good opportunities.
Giroud narrowly missed the most beautiful goal of the tournament so far with an artistic side kick (50'), Antoine Griezmann's shot was just cleared by Aziz Behich on the line (67').
Then the Australians' luck ran out and Mbappé hit his head from five meters (68th).
The 23-year-old's fifth finals goal at a World Cup - as many as Zinedine Zidane.
Giroud increased again after preparatory work by Mbappé to 4: 1 (72nd).
The French patient
: No World Cup participant has been hit as badly with injuries as the French: Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Christopher Nkunku, Presnel Kimpembe and most recently world footballer Karim Benzema had to pass.
The next failure came early in the game against Australia: Lucas Hernández, Bayern defender, was injured in a failed defense before the 0-1 draw and had to be replaced by his brother Theo.
In Munich, people will have slumped in front of the television, groaning.
The upcoming games against Denmark (November 26, 5 p.m.) and Tunisia (November 30, 4 p.m.) will probably show how big Deschamps’ squad really is.
Australia's long journey:
Australia had to play a whopping 20 matches in World Cup qualifying to qualify for their sixth finals after 1,008 days by beating Peru on penalties.
Coach Graham Arnold was almost out after losing points against China and Oman.
Should he manage to win the first finals by an Australian side since beating Serbia 2-1 at the 2010 World Cup against the Danes or Tunisians, it would be the biggest success for an Australian side since reaching the round of 16 in 2006.
Record man Giroud: Giroud
is now 36 years old and earns his money with AC Milan in Serie A. In 2018 he became world champion with France, but did not score in seven appearances.
A nice tradition for the French, they already had a zero-goal attacker in Bernard Lacombe in the title team when they won the European Championship in 1984.
In the sedentary footballing age, he has now scored his finals goals two and three after debuting in 2014 and is now level with France's record goalscorer Thierry Henry with 51 goals.