Kylian Mbappe is France’s golden boy and one of the stars of the 2022 World Cup – but in the words of legendary Gallic band Daft Punk…he’s “human after all”.
Granted, she wasn’t quite the sitter Jonathan Pearce and Danny Murphy may have made out. Yet when you get Mbappe so close to your goal, it will usually only end one way.
The Socceroos got away with it – and can count themselves extremely lucky. France dominated as the half went on and with Mbappe playing as much as entering the area himself, it looked like a banker after Ousmane Dembele’s fabulous work to send the ball in the danger zone.
France also lost a goal when Craig Goodwin, who has only been capped 10 times by the Socceroos, wasted no time in capitalizing on the starters’ injury problems to score a stunning first goal.
More misfortune followed for head coach Didier Deschamps, as Lucas Hernandez hit the deck despite not connecting with an opponent, appearing to have twisted his knee.
Bayern Munich star Hernandez has been replaced by his brother Theo, who plays for AC Milan, in an early switch. The injury will be a blow to Deschamps, who is already missing a number of key stars.
The midfield duo of 2018 triumph, N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba have been ruled out of the 2022 edition through injury. RB Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku then had to drop out of the squad after France named their 26-man roster. Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema is also out for the entire World Cup.
France equalized thanks to Adrian Rabiot who reached a corner before everyone else before Olivier Giroud scored his 50th goal for France. The AC Milan striker is now just one goal behind Thierry Henry, who holds the all-time goalscoring record.
The Blues led 2-1 at the break.
