France 2-1 Australia
France beat Australia in the Group C opener, but they needed a VAR penalty and a big piece of luck to beat the brave Socceroos.
The game exploded into life after a goalless first half: Antoine Griezmann put Les Bleus ahead from the spot, and Mile Jedinak equalised before Paul Pogba grabbed a fortunate late winner.
Didier Deschamps did what we were all hoping for and played his young stars: Griezmann started up front with Ousmane Dembele and Kylian M’Bappe, the latter two aged 21 and 19. It’s exciting for FIFA 2018 fans, but Les Bleus can blow hot and cold. And in this match, they did just that.
New Aussie coach Bert van Marwijk said his side needed some luck to get some good FIFA 2018 betting odds, but Lady Luck certainly deserted him today.
Highlights of the game
Australia keeper Matt Ryan has had a great season at Brighton and Hove Albion, keeping the newly promoted team in the Premier League. He’ll feature heavily in the early FIFA 2018 highlights and he fully expected to be in for a busy afternoon at the Kazan Arena.
He only had a minute to set his goal up before M’Bappe latched on to a ball down the right and tested him at the near post with a powerful strike. Paul Pogba then gave Ryan a comfortable catch from a free kick, and Griezmann controlled brilliantly before forcing a smart save with a well-hit volley.
Australia came into the game with four wins in the last seven, and their 10,000 fans were determined to enjoy themselves, cheering every pass and celebrating every throw in or free-kick like a goal. And they almost did go ahead on 17 minutes when Hugo Lloris had to react quickly to scramble the ball away after Corentin Tolisso got in a pickle and almost put the ball through his own net.
The Aussie crowd would have combusted!
That seemed to give the underdogs some confidence, and they began to see more of the ball as France started to blow cooler. The half-hour had gone before they shot again in anger: Lucas Hernandez fired low only to see his shot blocked by Mile Jedinak.
France started the second half with more purpose and got their lead under controversial circumstances after Griezmann won a penalty. The Atletico man went down under a challenge and the referee said ‘no’. But VAR disagreed and Griezmann climbed to his feet to smash the ball home. It didn’t look like a penalty to most in the ground, but you have to trust the technology.
That should have been game over really, but a moment of madness blew it wide open again five minutes later. Australia flung a hopeful ball forward and, under no pressure whatsoever, Samuel Umtiti threw his hand out to concede a penalty, which Jedinak coolly slotted home.
Deschamps reacted by ringing the changes, bringing his big striker Olivier Giroud on to take Griezmann’s place. Dembele was hooked as well, replaced by Nabil Fekir.
Tolisso went into the referee’s book for a cynical foul as France became more desperate, and it began to look like the Aussies would hold out. However, another bizarre moment gave Les Bleus the win. Aziz Behich beat Paul Pogba to a forward ball, but the Manchester United got a touch and it crashed off the underside of the bar, just inches over the line.
We know the French will improve as the tournament progresses, but on this showing, they need to.
Hard luck Australia.
Key statistics
France won their opening game only once in four previous attempts and topped their group twice in nine World Cups. They are slow starters for such a successful nation and that showed today.
But they had the best of the game and rode their luck. With 13 shots to six and six to one on target, the result certainly wasn’t a robbery. Australia fought tooth and nail, making 43 clearances.
Hugo Lloris had kept 16 clean sheets for Spurs in the Premier League, but he couldn’t keep the Socceroos out.
What’s next?
Australia got the most difficult game out of the way now and will move on to play Denmark. They can feel confident after keeping France at bay for long periods but need to beware of the Danes’ key man Christian Eriksen. The Spurs man is a constant threat.
France play Peru next, and our SBOBET odds suggest a win for Les Bleus. If they have the luck they enjoyed today, they’ll be absolutely fine!
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