France vs Australia Live score, FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar: France ease to a comfortable win after early jitters

So 4 games done for the day. Quite a long day and it began with one of the greatest World Cup upsets ever! We will do it all again tomorrow. Till then take rest and be well. See you soon. Bye for now.

Marcus Thuram makes his World Cup debut 8930 days after his father (Lilian Thuram) made his World Cup debut in 1998. Marcus was 311 days old at the time.

Like father, Like son. 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/SiDJuMeq9s
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) November 22, 2022

1 - Adrien Rabiot is the first France player to both score and assist a goal on his World Cup debut since Christophe Dugarry against South Africa in June 1998. Rebellion. #FRAAUS pic.twitter.com/yt3v5dZ1gI
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 22, 2022

A couple of tweets before we end this.

A comfortable win for France after Australia took the lead first. France turned it around as ultimately the class told and Australia were well-beaten in the end. Two goals for Olivier Giroud who now is level with Thierry Henry as France’s record goalscorer. A good workout for the defending champions.

FULL-TIME! France 4 Australia 1.

7 minutes of added time.

What a save from Matt Ryan to deny Ibrahima Konate. Diving to his left to stop a certain goal after a powerful header into the ground.

Australia with a couple of substitutions: Irvine and Atkinson making way for Keanu Baccus and Milos Degenek.

STAT courtesy of the BBC: Only Just Fontaine (13), Thierry Henry (six), Zinedine Zidane (five) and Michel Platini (five) have netted as many goals at the World Cup for Les Bleus as Kylian Mbappe (five).

France make a double change. Youssouf Fofana and Kingsley Coman replace Aurelien Tchouameni and Ousmane Dembele.

GOAL! Olivier Giroud in the 71st minute! France 4 Australia 1. France with another one. Mbappe is one-on-one on the left and he breezes past the right-back to deliver a pinpoint cross that Giroud leaps to head home.

GOAL! Kylian Mbappe in the 68th minute! France 3 Australia 1. France have been knocking on the door and surely this is game over now. Dembele from the right crosses and Mbappe is there between the centre-backs to head in off the post. Clinical.

Olivier Giroud with the acrobatic volley but it's well wide. He has scored some belters in his career but not to be this time.

Second half starts.

HALF-TIME! France 2 Australia 1. Australia took a shock lead with a well-taken goal but two quick goals from France overturned that deficit. And the defending champions should have had more but for some poor finishing. A cracking game so far.

Jackson Irvine with a looping header hits the post, it deflects wide. France almost got caught there as the ball came in from the left.

6 minutes of added time.

WHAT A MISS! From Mbappe after being fed in by Griezmann and the former from so close in hooks the ball over the bar.

Great play from Dembele who feeds Mbappe who cleverly backheels to Griezmann who blasts his shot just wide of the near-post.

Now France are buzzing. First Giroud blasts over and then Mbappe down the left bursts through and passes to Dembele who skies it well over. Australia on the back foot.

GOAL! Olivier Giroud in the 32nd minute! France 2 Australia 1. Australia try to play out from the back but invite the press from France who nick the ball and Rabiot squares it to Giroud for the easiest of tap-ins. France have turned it around in the blink of an eye.

GOAL! Adrien Rabiot in the 27th minute! France 1 Australia 1. Peach of a cross from Theo Hernandez from the left and Rabiot beats Matt Ryan with a powerful header across him. France level.

Theo Hernandez carelessly gives the ball away and Mitchell Duke almost scores a screamer from around 35 yards but his sliced effort goes just wide.

Lucas Hernandez is injured and is replaced by his brother Theo. Lucas fell awkwardly as Leckie went past him to provide the assist for the goal and hobbled off the pitch with the help of the physios. Does not look good at all for him for the rest of the tournament.

GOAL! Craig Goodwin in the 9th minute! France 0 Australia 1. Wow! What a start this is by Australia. Mathew Leckie gets a crossfield pass and bursts past Lucas Hernandez on the right and then slide-rule passes it across and Goodwin at the far post hammers it into the roof of the net. Superb finish.

France have started aggressively with Ousmane Dembele on the right and Kylian Mbappe on the left.

KICK-OFF!

The players are there for the national anthems.

France's aren't short of attacking options, but Karim Benzema's injury will undoubtedly be a massive blow for Didier Deschamps. The Real Madrid superstar won the Ballon d'Or earlier this year and has been one of the best attackers in world football for well over three years now - he could have added a different dimension to France's gameplay.

Olivier Giroud, also referred to as the 'go-kart' by Karim Benzema, isn't a horrible option by any stretch of the imagination, but he's no 'Formula One' car, is he?

Australia have a bunch of experienced players in their team in the form of Matt Ryan, Aaron Mooy and the likes, but France's XI looks much better on paper. That said, football is never played on paper, with Argentina's shock defeat to Saudi Arabia earlier today the most starling example yet that anything can happen when the players take to the pitch.

Football is a funny old game, isn't it?

Some big selection calls from Didier Deschamps. Looks like Antoine Griezmann will play at the tip of a diamond with Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Olivier Giroud in front of him, while Aurelien Tchouameni and the enigmatic Adrien Rabiot are at the heart of the midfield. At the back, former Leipzig central defenders Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate start at the heart of the defense, while Lucas Hernandez has been preferred to his brother, Theo, at left-back.

Official Australia XI:

Ryan; Behich, Rowels, Souttar, Atkinson; Irvine, Mooy, McGree; Goodwin, Duke, Leckie

Official France XI:

Lloris; Pavard, Upamecano, Konaté, Lucas Hernández; Rabiot, Tchouaméni; Mbappé, Griezmann, Dembélé; Giroud.

The lineups should be out any minute now, but how will France lineup? With Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante not in the squad this time around, their midfield could look a lot different. Aurelien Tchuameni is likely to start as a holding midfielder, while Adrien Rabiot and Eduardo Camavinga are candidates to join him in the center of the park.

Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's LIVE coverage of the Group D clash between reigning champions France and Australia! The other Group D game earlier today between Denmark and Tunisia finished goalless, but judging by the firepower in the France squad, this game is likely to have a lot of goals.

We're 2 hours away from kick-off, so fasten your seatbelts ladies and gents - we'll bring you all the live action!