France 4-1 Australia: Post-match player ratings

Group D's second game saw France beat Australia 4-1 after the Socceroos took a shock early lead at the Al Janoub Stadium.

Adelaide United's Craig Goodwin netted at the back post on nine minutes after France were caught on the break.

Adrien Rabiot netted to equalise just before the half-hour mark, with Olivier Giroud scoring five minutes later to put his side in front.

Giroud added another in the second half after Kylian Mbappe opened his 2022 World Cup account on 68 minutes.

Embed from Getty Images

Here's how each player fared:

France

Hugo Lloris – 7

Little to do throughout. A comfortable evening that could have been made tougher had Jackson Irvine’s header crept in on 45 minutes.

Benjamin Pavard – 7

Switched off at a key time for the Aussies' opener but was comfortable afterwards, providing an attacking threat and defending with authority.

Ibrahima Konate - 7

Played some brilliant long passes and didn’t allow Mitchell Duke any joy in the air.

Dayot Upamecano - 6.5

Shaky on the ball at times but kept any promising Socceroo attacks at bay. The two young centre halves will hope to build a partnership capable of taking their side far this winter.

Lucas Hernandez - N/A

Hobbled off on 12 minutes with an innocuous injury sustained in the build-up to Australia's goal. Will hope it isn’t a tournament-ender.

Aurelien Tchouameni - 7

Effective and kept it simple throughout. Will hope to grow into the tournament after being trusted from the off instead of Camavinga or Fofana.

Adrien Rabiot - 8

Slow start but silenced recent critics with fine header to make it 1-1 and continue his recent goalscoring form. Set Giroud up for second to cap a great outing in his 30th international appearance.

Ousmane Dembele - 7.5

Helped his team grow back into the game with pace and directness. Picked out Mbappe for the third with a pinpoint cross and justified his starting berth.

Antoine Griezmann - 6.5

Little impact in first half and struggled to link up with Giroud as Deschamps will have wanted. So close to a goal was it not for Behich’s brilliant goal line clearance.

Kylian Mbappe - 9

Quiet in opening stages but closed down Atkinson well in build up to his side’s second goal. Missed a golden chance to further lead on stroke of half time with his first-time shot somehow blazed over. Finally got his goal with expertly taken header leaving Ryan with no chance. Unsurprisingly a constant threat.

Embed from Getty Images

Olivier Giroud - 8.5

Simple finish for his first World Cup goal since 2014. Doubled his tally with a great header to make it 4-1 and write his name in the history books as France’s joint all-time leading goalscorer alongside Thierry Henry. Held the ball up well throughout.

Substitutions

T. Hernandez (for L. Hernandez 12’) – 8

Replaced his older brother and within minutes had put in a wonderful delivery to assist Rabiot. Got forward with intent and was one of France’s main attacking outlets. A brilliant backup that will likely be seeing more starts.

Youssouf Fofana for (Tchouameni 76’) – 6

Quiet cameo as he kept and passed the ball around with no qualms.

Kingsley Coman for (Dembele 76’) - 6

Added energy and was clearly keen to affect the game to force himself into Deschamps' thinking.

Jules Kounde (for Pavard 88’) - N/A

Marcus Thuram (for Giroud 88’) - N/A

Australia

Mat Ryan - 6

Could do little about any of the goals. Most notable stop was a decent save from a Konate header late on.

Nathaniel Atkinson - 4.5

Hearts man gave the ball away sloppily for France’s second and had a tough night against the ever-electric Mbappe. Will have nightmares about the PSG dynamo tonight. Could see his starting berth taken away next time out.

Harry Souttar - 6.5

Brilliant diagonal pass to start the move for the first goal as he kept looking to find attackers on the half-turn throughout. Should have done better for France’s third as Mbappe ghosted into space but rarely put a foot wrong.

Kye Rowles - 6

Composed start but switched off as he lost his man for France’s leveller. Saved a certain goal with a wonderful last ditch tackle as Mbappe raced through.

Aziz Behich - 6.5

Found it difficult to cope with Dembele’s pace. Great goalline clearance to deny Griezmann in the second half and was one of his side’s better performers overall.

Riley McGree - 5.5

Played his part going forward but game bypassed him as time ticked on. Will know he can have better games against Tunisia and Denmark.

Aaron Mooy - 5.5

Showed class with some nice touches in the first half but was too slow to progress play and was little help in defensive situations. Booked in added time for a tired challenge.

Jackson Irvine - 5.5

Lost possession too often when he had the ball in the first 45. Header on stroke of half time caressed the post to come inches away from making it 2-2 as Lloris stood motionless. Put in some reckless tackles in the second half as he visibly tired and was eventually booked.

Matthew Leckie - 6

Great assist for 1-0, quiet evening otherwise as Theo Hernandez shut him out with relative ease.

Mitchell Duke - 5

Had a cracking effort from 40+ yards after 20 minutes that flew just over the crossbar. Rash challenge early in second half earned him a yellow card and a few minutes later he was taken off after proving largely ineffective.

Craig Goodwin - 6.5

Netted the opener with a fine finish, was energetic and always willing to move forward with the ball but understandably struggled in the second half. Crowning moment for any player to score in a World Cup, not least with just his second international goal.

Embed from Getty Images