'Starting 2 Consecutive Wins' France Defeats Australia 4-1 with Giroud's Multi-Goal Performance

Jirou Ties France's All-Time A-Match Record with 51 Goals, Scoring 2
Kylian Mbappe and Adrien Rabiot Shine with 1 Goal and 1 Assist Each

On the afternoon of the 22nd (local time), the Group D match between France and Australia was held at Al Wakrah Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar during the 2022 Qatar World Cup group stage. France's Kylian Mbappe is celebrating after scoring a header goal.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] France, the 'defending champion' aiming for a second consecutive World Cup title, made a smooth start by coming from behind to defeat Australia.

On the 23rd (Korean time), France dominated Australia 4-1 in the first match of Group D in the 2022 Qatar World Cup group stage held at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar.

In this match, France secured 3 points led by Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), who scored 2 goals alone, and Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), who contributed 1 goal and 1 assist.

The start of the game was not good. Just 9 minutes into the first half, Australia took the lead with a shot from Craig Goodwin (Adelaide). Goodwin connected a cross from Matthew Leckie (Melbourne City) with a left-footed shot to open the scoring, and France suffered a setback as left-back Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich) injured his knee while trying to stop Leckie, forcing an early substitution.

At the 13th minute of the first half, France hurriedly brought on Theo Hernandez (AC Milan) as a substitute, gradually increasing ball possession and gaining control. At the 27th minute, Adrien Rabiot (Juventus) headed in a cross from Theo to score the equalizer.

France, having turned the momentum, soon took the lead as Olivier Giroud (AC Milan) connected a pass from Rabiot with a right-footed shot to make it 2-1.

France ended the first half leading 2-1 and pressed their attack in the second half. At the 23rd minute of the second half, Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) accurately headed in a cross from Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona) to score an additional goal. Mbappe, who scored 4 goals in the last Russia World Cup and played a crucial role in France's victory, shone again in this match.

Then, at the 26th minute of the second half, Giroud headed in a cross from Mbappe to shake Australia's net once more. The score quickly widened to a 3-goal difference, and Australia collapsed helplessly after their early burst of offense, ending the match.

France achieved a rare record by defeating Australia in the opening match for the second consecutive World Cup following the last Russia tournament.

With this victory, France rose to first place in Group D. Australia fell to last place, 4th, following Tunisia and Denmark, who drew in an earlier match in the same group.