Australia kicked off their World Cup campaing with an exciting first 20 minutes, which in the end wasn’t enough to stop the French star-studded squad from winning the three points.
Craig Goodwin opened the scoring against the world champions early on, but not too long after that Adrien Rabiot and Olivier Giroud gave France the lead.
Graham Arnold’s men tried their best in the second half but struggled to create clear-cut chances. Deschamps’ team continued to grow with the flow of the game and eventually scored two more, which meant that the Socceroos lost their third consecutive group opener at a World Cup.
Mathew Ryan: – Ryan had a night to forget against the defending champions. In all fairness, the captain couldn’t do much for either of France’s four goals, but he still seemed off the pace throughout the 90 minutes. His distribution wasn’t great and he was caught in possession on a couple of occasions. 5
Nathaniel Atkinson: – Atkinson had arguably the hardest task out of any player in the Socceroos squad at Al Janoub Stadium. The Hearts full-back was tasked with the responsibility of keeping Kylian Mbappé quiet, and we can definitely say that he failed to deliver. The PSG star ran riot down the left-hand side, creating numerous goalscoring chances, assisting one of Giroud’s goals, and scoring one himself. Atkinson himself would be very disappointed with his showing. 3
Harry Souttar: – In hindsight, starting Souttar, a player that has just come off the back of a major ACL injury, seemed like the wrong decision, despite his importance to the side. The giant centre-back struggled against France’s physical front four and made multiple errors both on and off the ball, some of which directly leading to goals for Les Bleus. 4
Kye Rowles: – Similarly to Souttar, Rowles didn’t have his best game and it was probably expected, considering the circumstances. The former Central Coast captain is coming off the back of a metatarsal injury himself and his lack of match rhythm was showing in his matchup against record-breaking striker Olivier Giroud. 4
Aziz Behich: – Started off well, supporting Goodwin and McGree down the left, and providing cover for Mooy with his underlapping runs. But when France clicked into gear, after the 20th minute mark, things drastically changed for Behich. His passing was really poor and his passive defending allowed Dembele more than enough time to set up Mbappe for the third goal. 4
Aaron Mooy: – Mooy was supposed to be the anchor in midfield, tasked with progressing the ball with smart balls between the lines and making things tick for the boys in green and gold. And he did do that when given the chance. Unfortunately for him, France managed to expose his lack of pace and continuously burned him in transition. 5
Jackson Irvine: – As always, Irvine was forced to work extremely hard in both phases of the game, running up and down the pitch to support both the defence and attack ,from his box-to-box midfield role. Came close to scoring at the end of the first half, before his gass ran out in the second 45 and he was eventually replaced by Baccus. 6
Riley McGree: – Had the third least touches of any outfielder that played more than 45 minutes. This says a lot, considering that he was supposed to replace Ajdin Hrustic as the link between midfield and attack. He did have a few bright moments in the first half, but nothing unfogettable. 5
Mathew Leckie: – Started the game just like he started the A-League season – on fire. Assisted Goodwin’s opener with a sublime low-cross, after sending Lucas Hernandez flying, and look a menace down the right. Definitely one of the better performers for Australia, but could have provided more defensive support for Atkinson. 6
Craig Goodwin: – Showed the footballing world that A-League players can do it on the biggest of stages after openning the scoring in the ninth minute with an excellent finish. Looked dangerous down the left, but lacked the pace to hurt the opposition consistently and was replaced after the 72nd minute. 7
Mitchell Duke: – Duke was the first one to be substituted by Arnold, not because he was the worst player on the pitch, but rather due to his hard and tiresome job. He had to lead the press for the Socceroos and did that well at the start of the match. He even came close to scoring with a long-range shot, which went just wide of Lloris’goal. He did tire at the end of his cameo and clearly couldn’t match the fitness of Upamecano and Konate. 5
Substitutes
Jason Cummings: – The Aussie fan favorite had close to zero impact after replacing Duke. Cummings had only eith touches and dissapointed with his pressing. 4
Garang Kuol: – The youngster looked solid and tried his best after coming off the bench but couldn’t provide the needed spark. 5
Awer Mabil: – Similar to Kuol, he didn’t get enough chance to show his worth and the lack of service didn’t help as well. 5
Milos Degenek: – N/A
Keanu Baccus: – N/A
