The Latest Breaking News from Antoine Griezmann

The Socceroos' unshakeable focus on belief ahead of their match-up with defending World Cup champions France looked to have worked for a glorious quarter-hour — then reality intervened, writes Samantha Lewis.

France’s attacking quartet shone as the defending champions stormed back from conceding an early Craig Goodwin goal

Olivier Giroud’s double in the 4-1 win over Australia cemented his France legacy, one guided by the faith and nous of manager Didier Deschamps

France came back from a goal down to beat Australia 4-1 in their opening World Cup Group D match

France swamped Australia with high full-backs and midfield runners, showing off a luxury array of attacking threats that will surely make their mark on this World Cup

France fell behind early but surged by the Socceroos thanks in part to its 36-year-old striker and his star-studded teammates.

France are overwhelming favourites in their opening clash against relative minnows Australia, especially given the presence of the mighty Kylian Mbappé. But Les Bleus fans can be forgiven a few jitters – as a range of injuries afflicts the squad and the curse of World Cup title-holders looms large.

Neither of Les Bleus’ two World Cup triumphs contained a goal from their main striker at the time

While the build-up to Qatar has focused on issues off the field, there is still some football to be played on it. Samantha Lewis previews Group D and lays out Australia's possible path forward.

Even without the injured Karim Benzema, defending World Cup champion France has plenty of attacking power. Most teams would love to have either Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann or Olivier Giroud in their forward line, let alone all three. They have 119 international goals between them, plus an abundance of speed,…

France will have to defend their World Cup crown without Karim Benzema after the Real Madrid man was ruled out through injury leaving Didier Deschamps to assess his options