Australia Socceroos v France result: Player ratings from World Cup opener
Australia’s youngest ever World Cup player caused plenty of excitement when he came off the bench against France. Was the Garang Kuol hype justified? See full expert ratings and cast your vote.
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Australia’s opening World Cup clash was a bloodbath.
Olivier Giroud scored twice as World Cup holders France recovered from the shock of going behind to thump Australia 4-1 in their opener in Qatar.
Veteran striker Giroud drew level with Thierry Henry’s all-time record of 51 goals for France and Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe also scored, after Australia took a surprise ninth-minute lead through Craig Goodwin.
Australia’s next test comes against Tunisia on Saturday night (9pm AEDT) who drew with Denmark.
Who starred and who flopped?
Socceroos secure priceless point in ugly clash with Japan
While it wasn’t quite the history the Socceroos were after, Tony Popovic’s men delivered a gutsy performance on Japanese soil, defying the odds to bring a point back to Australia. See how the action unfolded.
Popovic delivers brutal home truths as real test awaits
The Socceroos kicked off the Tony Popovic era with a win - but the new coach gave his team a brutal assessment of their victory, as they warm up for the first real test against Japan.