France dominated the first half of their opening World Cup encounter against Australia but have failed to make a breakthrough against their stubborn opponents. Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe have posed quite a few problems for the Australians but have been wasteful in the final third. Australia despite defending for large parts of the game had the best chance from a free-kick but were denied by a smart save from Hugo Lloris.
France coach Didier Deschamps left Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud on the bench as teenager Mbappe led Les Bleus’ front line in Kazan. Mbappe, one of 14 players in France’s squad who have yet to feature in a major tournament, has been in great form for Paris Saint-Germain last season and started Saturday’s Group C opener flanked by Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele of Barcelona. Deploying his preferred 4-3-3, 1998 World Cup winners Deschamps’ midfield saw Manchester United’s Paul Pogba alongside Corentin Tolisso of Bayern Munich and Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante.