Mbappe’s the king, for France and Qatar
Kylian runs riot to help Giroud equal Henry record
This was the World Cup the champions envisaged. The hosts, too. The Qatari-owned Paris saint- Germain do not spend the level of money invested in Kylian Mbappe without having a grander plan than another French title. This match, this display, was why they did it.
They wanted Qatar’s World Cup to have its best player inextricably linked with the country.
in World Cup year, they were not going to let Real Madrid steal Mbappe away and claim the reflected glory.
Last night, Mbappe delivered — for France and Qatar. The world champions recorded an emphatic win against an outmatched Australia team and in the second half Mbappe scored one and made another, the undoubted star of the show and an honorary Qatari through his club.
he was the player Australia simply could not handle, the man around whom France’s campaign will be built. his pace and direct running towards the target from wide is a weapon many will struggle to contain and Australia had no answer.
England are slated to meet France in the last eight and Gareth southgate will hope to have Kyle Walker and Kieran Tripper available for that fixture. if England followers have taken heart from a spate of French injuries pre-tournament, this will have been a sobering watch. France are a nation with so much strength in depth.
They are also a nation with a new joint top goalscorer, Olivier Giroud netting twice to level Thierry henry’s 51 goals for his country. he could have had more, too, including a spectacular overhead kick that would have marked the occasion in wonderful style.
France fell behind early but quickly righted the ship. They could have hit six, as England did, with better finishing.
Still, four is a good start and the forwards have served notice that they will manage without Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, the latest of many withdrawals.
Two for Giroud (right) and one for Mbappe suggest there will be no shortfall. Unlike Argentina against saudi Arabia earlier in the day, when they were on top they took full advantage.
This was certainly an improvement on the last campaign in which France defended a World Cup. Back in 2002, not only did they exit at the group stage, they did not even score. And although an early Australia goal caused no little trepidation, by half-time the champions were a goal up and coasting. There were even sporadic outbreaks of showboating from Mbappe which, while somewhat presumptuous, confirmed a confident level of control.
They will miss their many absentees later in the tournament but had Australia well in hand. Graham Arnold’s team are plucky but little more and there was a distinct element of having poked a hornets’ nest about their goal.
it came after just nine minutes. harry souttar, of stoke, played a lovely raking ball to Matthew Leckie on the right where he got the better of Bayern Munich’s Lucas hernandez and hit a fine cross into the box.
it was met by Adelaide United’s Craig Goodwin, who lashed into the roof of the net. his only other international goal had come against Vietnam. it is fair to say this was an upgrade.
Australia were celebrating but on the other side of the pitch hernandez lay stricken. he had turned a knee trying to stop Leckie and would play no further part in the game and perhaps the tournament. France’s injury curse had struck again.
Many minutes of treatment saw no improvement. his brother, Theo, was his replacement. Whether that softens the blow, who can say?
It was certainly a difficult introduction for hernandez Jnr. in the 21st minute he almost cost France dear, losing the ball cheaply in midfield and allowing Mitch Duke to strike a thunderous shot from 30 yards that flew just wide of hugo Lloris’s post. This was Australia’s best spell, Antoine Griezmann shirking his midfield duties and allowing Aaron Mooy to run the show. it was not going to last for ever, though, and did not. France came back into the match, largely through the stunning pace of Mbappe which always had Australia at full stretch.
Yet it was the anti-hero of this French team who got Didier Deschamps’ side back into the game. Four years ago, in Russia, Adrien Rabiot was a pariah when he refused to go on standby for the World Cup, which France duly won. Rehabilitated by Deschamps, he levelled the scoring here, his second goal in three games.
A corner was cleared only to be recycled smartly by hernandez and Rabiot lost his marker to steer a powerful header past keeper Mathew Ryan, once of Brighton, now of Copenhagen.
Minutes later Giroud directed a header over but France sensed their opportunity. When Australia made a misguided attempt to play out from the back, they pounced.
The high press did the trick, the ball never really under control from the moment Ryan passed it. Mbappe’s pace led to several skittish passes, the ball ending up with Griezmann who slipped it across for Giroud to finish into what was close to an empty net.
That was Giroud’s 50th goal for his country. henry could now feel his breath on his neck. And what a
way it would have been to equal that milestone had a spectacular overhead kick from Hernandez’s cross come off after 49 minutes.
It flew wide of Ryan’s far post yet Giroud still smiled, as he always does. Mbappe wore a rueful expression just before half-time, though, when he put Griezmann’s cross over with Ryan struggling.
Not that Australia were entirely done. From the last attack of the first half, a header from Jackson Irvine struck Lloris’s far post. It served as a warning.
No alarms here, however. Mbappe took the game away from Australia after 68 minutes. First, he hit a low cross into the box, picked up by nobody and eventually falling to Ousmane Dembele on the right.
He bided his time, spied the target and returned the ball to Mbappe, allowing him to head past Ryan. Soon after, the simplest cross from Mbappe was met by Giroud to share Henry’s record.
The warmth of the celebrations showed the regard in which he is held. One of the game’s nice guys — and they don’t always come last.