The conversation prior to the match between France and Australia was surrounded by criticism, debate and doubts about what could be the curse of the champions who even before the World Cup started, was already beginning to feel the effects of the curse, as some people said, after the plague of injuries from important players, which meant casualties such as Karim Benzema, Presnel Kimpembé, N’Golo Kanté, Christopher Nkunku and even in today’s game, Lucas Hernández, who will miss the entire season according to reports.
Didier Deschamps, despite his success in the last World Cup, plus the squad that he has full of talent, has been loaded with a lot of criticism about a very inoffensive, pragmatic and boring football, and even, with very dubious call-ups according to the opinion of certain fans. However, the work that was done against Australia, not only tactically but also mentally to come back from the game, was a very good one for the Frenchmen who beat the obscure and dark streak of the champion’s curse.
Australia, for their part, did not show anything bad in their first minutes of endurance after the goal was scored, where they were brave and proactive when they had the ball, but the depth of French talent passed over them the instant they were able to score the equalizer against through a header from Adrien Rabiot.
The match ended 4-1, with quite an interesting performance by France, who, harshly criticised for not being so offensive, managed to get three gigantic points, scoring four past their opponents and only conceding one, on a day where surprises were a constant, with the victory of Saudi Arabia and the draw between Tunisia and Denmark. In this tactical analysis, we dive into the tactics of both teams and see how Didier Deschamps’s France won the first game of the group stage.
Lineups
Deschamps chose a 4-2-3-1 that he normally used in the preparatory games before the World Cup. Hugo Lloris started again in goal for the National Team, accompanied by a defence from right to left of Benjamin Pavard, Ibrahima Konaté, Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Hernández, who was later replaced by his brother, Théo; The midfield was composed of a double-pivot with Adrien Rabiot and the tough Aurélien Tchouameni, who were responsible to provide balls to Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Olivier Giroud in attack.
Graham Arnold for his part deployed a 4-3-3 with Matthew Ryan in goal, Nathaniel Atkinson and Aziz Behich on the wings as full-backs, completing the back-four with Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles. The midfield was made up of the talented and technical Aaron Mooy, Jackon Irvine and Riley McGree, joined by Matthew Leckie, Craig Goodwin and Mitchell Duke in attack.
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