France have beaten Australia by two goals to one in Kazan to open their World Cup campaign.
It was a gripping match where the French took the ascendancy early before the Australians settled into the contest and played strongly through much of the first half.
The early minutes saw Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann threaten the Socceroos goal and the centre-back combination of Mark Milligan and Trent Sainsbury repel attack after attack in resilient fashion.
Shots on goal dried up and deep attacking chances were scarce as the half become bogged down and the Australians would have entered the sheds at half-time feeling chuffed with a 0-0 scoreline.
The trend continued after the break until a wonderful ball from Paul Pogba in the 57th minute found space and Josh Risdon fouled in the area. The referee was originally happy to let play go on but the dreaded VAR intervened and the penalty was awarded.
Griezmann slotted home the spot kick and the French looked on their way to victory. Within minutes, the scores were level after an obvious handball saw Mile Jedinak convert another spot kick and the hopes of the land down under were re-energised.
Sadly for the Socceroos, Pogba struck with around fifteen minutes remaining, after an unconvincing shot caught Mat Ryan off his line and rebounded off the bar into the goal-mouth to seal the victory for the French.
It was a gallant effort from the Socceroos, yet one which they will feel could have resulted in a point.
Final score
France 2
Australia 1
The Socceroos meet France in the opening Group C match of the 2018 World Cup in Kazan. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 8pm (AEST).
This is the moment the Socceroos have been working towards for the last four years and the French loom as their first opponent in Australia’s fourth consecutive World Cup.
It will be a huge ask for the Socceroos to take all three points from this game and a draw might be a far more realistic aim yet big nations can sometimes be stunned early in the tournament.
France will field a star-studded line-up with Giroud, Griezmann and Mbappe certain to be in the mix and the attack on Mathew Ryan’s goal will be considerable in both frequency and effectiveness.
A stoic and compact defensive structure will be key for the Australians as they seek to repel the impending attacks of the French and the firm and disciplined hand of new manager Bert van Marwijk will play a key role in instilling confidence in the back four.
If the Socceroos can hold firm at the back it will allow them to attempt to hit the French on the counter-attack and somehow pinch a goal at the other end.
Aaron Mooy, Massimo Luongo and Tom Rogic will be key to this plan and one single opportunity requiring a finishing foot could be the difference between a glorious point and and a gallant loss.
Mathew Ryan will need to be ready for the onslaught yet the French will also need to be switched on and resist the temptation to underestimate a gutsy Australian squad that will be desperate to make the most of their opportunities.
Prediction
France are blessed with quality yet there are enough reasons to suggest that the Socceroos are ready to play well. In the spirit of optimism, I truly believe the Socceroos can find the net in this match and take a point from the contest.
France 1, Australia 1
Catch all the action on The Roar, live coverage from 8pm (AEST).
anon
Roar Pro
A lot of complaints about the Optus stream again last night. Nothing to do with bandwidth. There's an app which works fine but I'm not about to watch a stream through an app. That's pointless. Foxtel streams well if I use Foxtel Go so the problem is clearly with Optus. $2,000 for an internet connection. What planet are you?
anon
Roar Pro
Without Cahill's magic we don't go through. Simple concept. We were horrible under Ange remember.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
We need Floyd Mayweather, Basil. Highest paid sportsman in the world. He’d kill it at football, surprising even Ronaldo and Messi.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Anon, do yourself a favour and learn about tech before you comment. Get your phone and go to Speedtest.net. Most phones are on either 3G or 4G. 4G has download speeds of around 40mbps - which is fast with a reasonably stable connection and bandwidth. The problem is most have download data limits, which is why it’s not used much for streaming. Now your comment about the speed of phones suggests you’re probably poor, and as such you most likely have either an ADSL connection still (which could be running at 2mbps) or at best a 25 mbps NBN plan, in which case you’re getting around 20mbps. Now if you have the latter, this speed will be fine. However, the issues with streaming sports comes down to bandwidth, which will be very poor on these plans. Upgrade to one of the higher plans and check with your provider what ratio of users you’ll be sharing the exchange with. If you have FTTP, this wil not be an issue, but most don’t have this. If you’re wealthy, do yourself a favour: get an ABN (if you don’t have one already) and apply for a business grade NBN connection at your home. The bandwidth will be far greater allowing zero issues. If you’re very rich, apply for a 1:1 NBN connection, but it will cost you about $2000 a month. With regards to Netflix, it’s optimised for streaming, having servers local to the users (more or less in most countries). Live sport has significant issues when streaming for obvious reasons and is why I’ve laughed at those who have suggested the A-League’s last TV deal will be broadcast purely by streaming. The technology is not in place. Optus will find this out the hard way. Hope that helps.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Ahhh. I see now. You’re one of those people who thinks if player X kicked the goal after the siren then they would have won. Of course, what you fail to realise is: if you want to play the ‘genius in hindsight card’ (which you do well) then I too can change many other variables, such as goals scored against throughout the Roos campaign, and not just the Syria match either. You keep thinking like that though.
rasty
Guest
Haha. Good and accurate stuff Sheek.
rasty
Guest
Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Anon - I had a couple of issues with Optus on Friday night, but since then it's been fine. HD quality, no lags, nothing. I'd say it's worth it. It's $15 after all, nothing too drastic.
midfielder
Guest
anon serious question who are Eddie Betts & Cyril Riolil.
Nemesis
Guest
Tom Rogic gets paid around A$4 million per year to play football. Those guys wouldn't earn that much money combined.
anon
Roar Pro
Clearly it's not about speed because even your phone can stream Netflix. The limiting factor is the Optus app as the slew of complaints proves tonight.
anon
Roar Pro
Without Cahill we don't beat Syria simple as that.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Aussie Bert's a great coach, the FFA will rue their decision to appoint Arnold early. Aussie Bert should be asked to carry on as long as he can.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Fark me dodd, when are the Footballroos due for a slice of luck in a World Cup game. We should have won that game. VAR penalty decision was von krapp and the flukiest of deflections by Pogba off Behich shin goes over the line by millimetres after hitting the underside of the crossbar. Pleeease!. One day it will come, please let it be so.
Basil
Guest
They'd be more useful than Rogic
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
You’re going to base your decision on purchasing Optus Sports for the month by what a few random strangers say on this site? In this case none. Okay then.
Nemesis
Guest
Why? Is there any evidence those people have any skill controlling a ball without using their hands? Lionel Messi is a superstar footballer, but I don't know if he'd be any good at Gridiron, or Swimming. Daniel Ricciardo is very good at F1 racing; not sure if he'd be any good at Cycling or rowing.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
That comment makes zero sense.
anon
Roar Pro
What tonight proved is that Ange was never the right guy for the job. Team hasn’t looked this positive in the last three years. Since the Asian Cup in early 2015 basically. Dutch no nonsense pragmatism is a great fit for our culture and where we stand in world soccer. Clearly the players have responded to Bert. Those qualifiers were such a struggle. The team had no zest, looked miserable, Ange brought so much negativity with him. They walk 10 feet taller with Bert coaching them. We would have waltzed through Asia under Bert.
anon
Roar Pro
I love watching our Socceroos, but how good would it be to have an Eddie Betts or Cyril Riolil up front.