Despite taking an early lead, the Socceroos were beaten 4-1 by France in both teams’ opening game of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Craig Goodwin opened the scoring in the ninth minute, but France were ahead by the end of the first half and never looked back, with goals from Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe and a brace for Olivier Giroud.
The Socceroos’ shock lead came after Harry Souttar picked out Mathew Leckie on the right wing with a 40-yard-pass. Leckie was able to beat Lucas Hernandez and slide the ball across the penalty area to Goodwin. The Adelaide United captain remained calm, smashing the ball into the roof of the net to spark jubilant celebrations amongst the travelling Australian fans and no doubt woke up bleary-eyed households back home. The goal also makes Goodwin the first Australian player to score at a World Cup whilst on the books of an A-League club.
Australian tails were up. Confidence was high amongst everyone, not least Mitchell Duke, who skimmed the top of the crossbar with a fierce 25-yard shot.
However, a response was inevitable from France, and it came just before the half hour mark. Substitute Theo Hernandez floated a ball towards the edge of the six-yard box, and an unmarked Rabiot was able to plant a header home from close range.
Within four minutes, France took the lead. Nathaniel Atkinson was dispossessed by Rabiot with the help of Mbappe and France’s goalscorer carried the ball into the penalty area, drawing Mathew Ryan out. The ball was then slipped to Giroud, who was given the easiest of finishes to tap into an unguarded net.
After Mbappe missed a good chance at one end, Australia hit the woodwork for a second time on the stroke of half time. Riley McGree managed to bundle his way to the byline before dinking a cross towards the back post. Arriving late was Jackson Irvine, but the St Pauli midfielder’s header bounced agonizingly off the base of the post.
France maintained their dominance in the second half, and shortly after Aziz Behich did extremely well to hack Griezmann’s shot off the line, Mbappe got his name on the scoresheet. France’s poster boy popped up in-between Kye Rowles and Souttar to nod home Ousmane Dembele’s cross and put Les Bleus in full control of the match.
There was then a special moment for Giroud, as he rose to meet Mbappe’s left-footed cross and head past Ryan at the back post. In trademark fashion, he scored his 51st international goal, drawing level with Thierry Henry as the most prolific goalscorer for his country.
Key Takeaways:
Cautious play undoes fast start
Australia came out the blocks with great busyness and industry. Souttar and Mooy were finding Goodwin and Leckie on the wings with long balls with relative ease, looking to test the French defence In fact, France failed their first major test after Goodwin capitalized on poor positioning from Benjamin Pavard to nip in at the back post to get his goal.
The Socceroos looked their best when playing on the front foot, trying to take on France. After sitting back for much of the first half, Irvine’s header almost had the two teams level at the break, but the move had come from industrious play from Behich and McGree, who weren’t afraid to run at Pavard and Konate.
The example to follow had been set earlier in the day as a fearless Saudi Arabia claimed a 2-1 win over Argentina, but unfortunately Australia were not able to match the efforts of their fellow Asian counterparts. France were able to pick apart Australia at will once Graham Arnold’s side began sitting back on the edge of the penalty area.
Problems at full back
Mbappe will give anyone nightmares, but Atkinson will have many sleepless nights after tonight’s match. He wasn’t given much support from Leckie and Irvine, and with Giroud and Griezmann staying central, Souttar was unable to come across and cover in the way Bailey Wright had helped out in the qualifiers.
Behich too was slow to close down Theo Hernandez for the French equaliser, and gave too much space to Dembele who provided the assist for Mbappe’s goal.
Whilst the quality of opposition will be a step down in the remaining group stage matches, Arnold will need to think carefully about how he can add some protection to either flank, particularly against Denmark, who’s wing-backs are such an important part of how they attack.
Optimism for qualification remains
As mentioned, Australia did carry threat for spells in the match, and that’s something that should give hope to Socceroos fans. After taking the lead in a World Cup match for the first time in 12 years, this current squad managed something that their 2018 compatriots couldn’t do – score from open play.
The way Goodwin, Leckie and McGree were able to run at France’s defence will cause greater problems for lesser opposition. Mooy looked back to his best in the first half an hour, able to spray the ball around with ease, whilst Irvine was quick to break up play and drive Australia forward. Add to this more game time for Awer Mabil and Garang Kuol and the potential return of Ajdin Hrustic, and this team isn’t short of creative ability.
A significant blow was landed upon a team many fancy to go all the way. Even so, the score line flattered France after what was a spirited and gutsy performance from Australia. Tonight showed that there’s enough talent in this squad to get results from the next two matches. There just needs to be a continuation of the endeavour shown in that first half.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Group Stage Match 1
France (Rabiot 27′, Giroud 31′ 71′, Mbappe 67′)
Australia (Goodwin 9′)
Australia: Ryan (GK, C), Atkinson (Degenek 84′), Souttar, Rowles, Behich, Mooy, Irvine (Baccus 84′), Leckie, McGree (Kuol 73′), Goodwin (Mabil 73′), Duke (Cummings 56′)
Unused: Redmayne (GK), Vukovic (GK), Karacic, Tilio, Wright, Maclaren, Hrustic, Devlin, Deng, King
Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP
