Ranking every World Cup Team Performance after the First Round of Group Games

#14 France

Les Bleus approached the World Cup with arguably the best squad on paper. The strength of the French squad was well known but the question was whether their individual talents would synchronize together and play as a team. The French team did not make their own headlines. VAR and goal-line technology took the plaudits in a close tie.

France started with a front three who would take up different roles throughout the game. They started exceptionally well with Kylian Mbappe causing some problems with his movement. But as the game went on, the French struggled to dominate the Australians who stood toe to toe with their opponents. The French midfield lacked creativity throughout the game. The full-backs were inexperienced and never really threatened going forward. Djibril Sidibe was a big miss and the young Benjamin Pavard will need to be better with his overlapping runs in the coming games.

The positives for the French were few. They will be relieved to know that Paul Pogba was decisive when called upon. Pogba played a very good through ball which earned France their penalty kick. Pogba split through the Australian backline with a good one-two and his deflected effort was enough to force an own goal to secure the points. N'golo Kante' was excellent again and he covered a lot of distance.

A very average display from a very talented squad. The French will only be happy that they secured the three points and will hope that there are a lot more positives to come.

The own goal from Aziz Behich just crossed the line and secured the points for France

#13 Japan

The Samurai Blue faced Colombia in their first competitive game under new head coach Akira Nishino. The Japanese manager was unemployed in the last three years and was hired after the surprising dismissal of Vahid Halilhodzic.

Japan got off to the best possible start. Yuya Osako found himself behind the Colombian defence. His attempt was saved by Ospina but Shinji Kagawa had an open net to place his shot. Colombian midfielder Carlos Sanchez blocked Kagawa's attempt but a penalty was awarded. Sanchez had used his hand to block the shot and was sent off after 3 minutes of play. Shinji Kagawa scored the penalty.

Instead of settling into the game and taking advantage of their numerical advantage, the Japanese adopted a safety-first approach. They surrendered possession cheaply to the Colombians and allowed them to build momentum. Quintero scored brilliantly from a contentiously awarded free kick. The Japanese will surely feel aggrieved at the call from the referee to award the free kick to Colombia in the first place.

The Japanese really struggled to take control of the game against the 10 men of Colombia who themselves failed to use their equalizer as inspiration. The second half started with both the teams struggling for possession. However, after the hour mark, the Japanese midfield finally took command. Kagawa, Shigasaki and Maketo started keeping the ball between themselves and tiring the Colombians out. This would have been a good tactic after the Japanese scored the first goal but it is better late than never.

Without Cuadrado, Inui and Nagatamo were able to use the left flank with more purpose. The goal arrived after minutes of probing by the Japanese defense. Yuya Osako found himself free in the box from a corner. He directed the corner exquisitely into the net using his head. After the goal, Japan were able to use effective game management and close out the game for the victory.

Japan were arguably the weakest team in an evenly balanced group and will be happy to come away with the three points. Japan also became the first Asian team to defeat a South American team in the World Cup.

Yuya Osako scores the match winner for the Japanese