France 1-0 Peru: 5 Talking Points, World Cup 2018

France came up against a Peruvian side which impressed on their debut in the competition against Denmark, in their second fixture of group C.

In the opener, Peru were more than deserving of the win on the night, as they'd kept bombarding the opposition goal right through the match.Denmark had nicked a goal on the counter and then sat back to invite future South American flair.

Peru provided that in plenty and came close on numerous occasions. Denmark had hung on for all three points denying the newcomers the perfect opening bow in the competition.

France, meanwhile, had been sluggish in their build-up to the competition with the USA, who themselves missed out on this year's World Cup, holding them to a 1-1 draw at home in their final warm-up game before boarding the plane to Russia.

Some of that sluggishness spilt over onto their opening fixture of the World Cup against Australia, who were looking good for a point against one of the favourites to win the competition, but with just ten minutes left on the clock, France knit together a neat move and Pobga tried to poke the ball toward the goal. In an attempt to clear the ball, Aziz Behich only managed to lob the ball into his own goal. That meant they had to better themselves in the next game.

So, there was always the feeling that this particular encounter in Group C would be exciting. As it turned out, a solitary goal from Kylian Mbappe meant that France secured progression into the knockout rounds with a game to go in Group C, but the game was anything but dull.

Here are the Talking Points:

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#5 Deschamps rings in the changes

French National coach: Didier Deschamps

From the whispers coming out of the French camp, following their fortunate win in the opener, we could gather than Deschamps was likely to make a couple of changes which would alter the way his team approached the game. The star of the fixture against the Aussies, Pogba, retained his starting spot in midfield but Tolisso missed out with Blaise Matuidi coming into the space vacated by him.

Against Australia, Deschamps had decided to go with the three youngsters, possessing blistering pace, upfront: Dembele, Mbappe and Griezmann. They'd found it difficult to get going right through the match and, as a result, it was the substitute Olivier Giroud, who'd linked up magnificently with Pogba for the goal in the opener, that started the fixture against Peru. He also provided the French side with an alternative of whipping balls into the box, something he thrives on.

Matuidi failed to make much of an impression but Olivier Giroud proved why the manager was right in bringing him back into the fold as it was his deflected effort in the first half that was bundled in by the PSG man.

#4 Peru carry their flair, and their form, into the second match

Peru cause France a number of problems

Peru were one of the most entertaining teams in the first round of the World Cup. The fact that they ended up without any points after the opener against Denmark meant the world didn't afford them the kind of attention that it did the likes of Iceland, Mexico and Switzerland.

A solitary goal on the counter cost them the game in the previous fixture and their failure to trouble the scorers was the only aspect that could be faulted on their memorable debut at the competition.

France were woken up by a strong start to the game by Peru, who began the game like they did their opener against Denmark - with intensity. France were pushed onto the backfoot for the entirety of the opening 10 minutes; it was all Peru. They hurried and harried the French players when without the ball, and tried to be direct when they did have it.

Unfortunately, though, their inability to find the back of the net also carried over from the fixture against Denmark, as they passed up a few very presentable opportunities to take the lead - including a couple which were saved by Hugo Lloris in goal.

#3 Kylian Mbappe makes history

On the road to greatness?

One of the most promising talents in world football, at the moment, is the second most expensive transfer in the history of the game: Kylian Mbappe. He will cost PSG around £166 million to get him permanently on their books after a loan season in the previous campaign.

The striker rose to prominence after a stellar season with Monaco, a couple of seasons ago, in which he breached the 30 mark with his goal tally. Not bad for someone who is still just 19 years old. An epic battle to win his signature ensued among the biggest clubs in the world but it was the Parisians who finally managed to lure the youngster to Parc des Princes.

At the World Cup, he is the second youngest player in the competition, youngest ever in a major competition for France, and after stabbing home Giroud's deflected shot into an open goal became the youngest-ever goal-scorer for France in the history of the World Cup.

Mbappe is undoubtedly meant for great things in life, but having scored his first in the competition at such a young age, he could well go on to become one of the most prolific in its history as well.

#2 Peru denied their first goal at the World Cup by a lick of paint

Lining one up from distance

The start to the second half was just about as frantic as the start to the first. Both teams came out looking to impress offensively with the game being played at a feverish pace.

Just 5 minutes after the restart, Peru came as close as possible without actually getting on the scoresheet. The ball was laid off for Aquino, about 30+ yards from the French goal. You could sense the stadium urging him to shoot. He did. And how!

An almost Steven Gerrardesque hit saw the ball arrow toward the goal, with Lloris stranded between the posts, one of which came to his rescue as the ball thundered off the left upright. It could've been a dream goal which would've certainly become a fixture in Peruvian footballing folklore.

Also accounting for the penalty miss by Cueva against Denmark, which would've dramatically altered the course of that game, it is very unfortunate that Peru have been knocked out of the World Cup without scoring a single goal so far.

#1 France look far from convincing

Matudi failed to keep tabs on the Peruvian players

After Peru forced the issue in the second half, France looked uncomfortable, not just on the ball, but also at the back. They kept getting pushed further and further into their own half.

Despite having two defensive holding midfielders in Kante and Matuidi, Peru kept finding space on the edge of the opposition penalty area and Lloris had to nervously watch a few shots either whisk just wide or canon into the side-netting.

This clearly triggered Peru to mount further pressure on a vulnerable looking French backline as they peppered the goal with a number of shots following some sumptuous link-up play on the edge of the box. The fact that a defeat would result in their exit from the biggest stage in the world meant that they had little option but to go for it.

We were left scratching our heads, trying to figure out how the South American side had not already managed to score a bunch of goals after the kind of attacking intent they've shown in both the fixtures.

Pavad, who is more of a centre-back, looked out of sorts at right-back. Lucas Hernandez, too, provided little on the other side of the pitch. With one of the most compelling defensive pairings in Varane and Umiti in the centre, France managed to hold onto their clean sheet despite everything Peru threw at them, but it wasn't all down to the way France defended. If anything, Peru's errant finishing had more to do with it.

A lot to fix for Didier Deschamps as France qualify to the knockout rounds.