Olivier Giroud tied Thierry Henry’s scoring record for France on Tuesday as Les Bleus rallied to defeat Australia 4-1 to open their World Cup defense.
France experienced another setback when Craig Goodwin gave Australia an early lead after losing Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, and other key players to injuries during a hectic run-up to the competition.
But the hosts responded well, and during a change in fortunes in the first half, the impressive Adrien Rabiot recorded a goal and an assist, the latter for Giroud.
Then, Kylian Mbappe secured the victory with a skillful glancing header before setting up Giroud to score his historic 51st goal and give France control of Group D.
After nine minutes of a dream start for Australia, Goodwin sidefooted Mathew Leckie’s cross into the roof of the net, but a quick-fire France double turned the game around.
Theo Hernandez’s long cross was nodded in by Rabiot after 27 minutes, and Giroud’s tap-in was made possible by his cut-back.
At the conclusion of a fun first half, there were clear chances for both teams. Mbappe missed a shot from close range, and Jackson Irvine headed against the post.
After the break, Giroud came close to scoring a spectacular second goal but missed with an acrobatic effort, and France kept up the pressure with Antoine Griezmann, who saw a shot blocked off the goal line.
After 68 minutes, Mbappe diverted Ousmane Dembele’s cross into the net off the post to give France a well-deserved third goal and seal the victory.
Three minutes later, Mbappe delivered a quality cross for France’s fourth goal, but Giroud’s header past Mathew Ryan and into the history books was the moment.
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