Valiant Socceroos fall to French quality in World Cup opener

Kiama's Kye Rowles was handed a World Cup debut by Socceroos coach Graham Arnold in a team that featured just four of the same faces that took to the field against the same opposition at the 2018 Cup in Russia.

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The Socceroos got off to the perfect start after a sustained spell of possession. Matthew Leckie got the ball on the right wing and whipped in a low cross for Adelaide United's Craig Goodwin scoring Australia's first open play goal at a World Cup since 2014.

After an impressive spell, Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot squared the ledger with a header following a corner.

Moments later the game was turned on its head. A costly mistake at the back from the Socceroos lead to Oliver Giroud scoring his 50^th international goal to make it 2-1 to the defending champions and that was what the score remained at the break.

After sustained pressure from the French, a third goal followed. This time it was Kylian Mbappe scoring from a header.

Giroud then had a double - again from a header - and the French led 4-1 and that was what the score remained.

The Socceroos will regroup and play Tunisia this Saturday November 26 at 9pm (AEDT).

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