Griez’s VAR

France ........ 2 Australia ....... 1 World Cup history after Antoine

FRANCE huffed and puffed and gave a huge collective sigh of relief yesterday after a game that created history and controversy.

They were not sparkling at times, never convincing and left Australia rueing what might have been.

But France are off and running after they were awarded the first VAR penalty in a World Cup, a close-call that left the Aussies fuming.

They were not alone. Many thought Josh Risdon’s tackle on Antoine Griezmann was fair and the game continued until Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha called a halt when the ball went out of play and checked a touchline TV before pointing to the spot.

Griezmann whipped home his 58th-minute penalty to put France ahead. Then within four minutes Australia were level, also from the spot after Samuel Umtiti blatantly handled Aaron Mooy’s free-kick.

Captain Mile Jedinak calmly equalised then France needed touchline technology to get over the line after a lacklustre show in which few stars shone.

Griezmann was substituted while Paul Pogba, who made one goal and scored the winner, was alright but needs to raise his game in the coming weeks.

Yet it all started so well for France with Brighton keeper Mat Ryan making three saves inside the first six minutes.

But with the Socceroos fighting and scrapping for every ball, they ran out of ideas and became laboured, putting more pressure on boss Didier Deschamps to find the right formation.

He used three attackers but it did not work and it was not until Olivier Giroud came on with 20 minutes to go that they truly posed an attacking threat.

Deschamps has always struggled to produce a team of brilliant players at their best. His job has been helped by N’Golo Kante’s breakthrough at Leicester and his continued form at Chelsea.

Kante sits at the base of France’s midfield and takes on the brunt of the defensive work, allowing his midfield partner Pogba the freedom to attack without worrying about leaving space behind him. Former manager Ange Postecoglou guided Australia to the finals but left the moment the Socceroos booked their place in Russia and was replaced by Bert van Marwijk who was in charge when Holland finished runners-up at the 2010 World Cup. The Dutchman will quit the position at the end of the tournament.

Australia looked at their most dangerous at set-pieces, usually swung over by Huddersfield midfielder Mooy.

And from one in the 16th minute they almost took the lead when France keeper and skipper Hugo Lloris had to dive full-length to keep out a deflection from team-mate Corentin Tolisso.

France, after a bright start, looked slow and laboured.

Australia came into the game with a plan to defend but when Les Bleus ran out of ideas, they grew into it.

France scored just 18 goals in qualification and their forwards