France v Australia Tips: Star striker can get off the mark early

Defending champions France open their World Cup campaign with a clash against Australia that should, on paper, be a pretty one-sided affair in favour of Les Bleus.

Saying that, France have plenty of headaches ahead of this opening match with injury issues hitting their camp harder than perhaps any other team in the entire competition. Presnel Kimpembe, Christopher Nkunku and now Karim Benzema have all dropped out of the squad that manager Didier Deschamps initially picked to travel to Qatar.

As a result, France’s World Cup 2022 outright odds are now as high as they have been in the last four years, yet they still remain third favourites after winning in Russia.

Headaches for Deschamps

There are parallels to be drawn between France and England’s situation. Les Bleus head into this tournament in mediocre form with just one victory from their last six matches while narrowly avoiding Nations League relegation, which the Three Lions, of course, failed to do. 

On top of this, there are question marks over how this team will line up. Even before the spate of injuries, Deschamps confirmed that he would switch his team to a back four for the World Cup. But, with Raphael Varane struggling for fitness in defence, the composition of the rearguard has been a closely guarded secret.

Olivier Giroud: AC Milan striker is set to start upfront alongside Kylian Mbappe

Further forward, meanwhile, quite how the coach will decide how to piece together his team is uncertain. Kylian Mbappe will be France’s key figure, and his improved relationship with fellow striker Olivier Giroud will be vital to France’s hopes. Mbappe still has baggage from 2018, when he failed to register a shot on target despite being the starting centre forward.

Socceroos hopping to cause an upset

There are also injury problems for Australia. It has been confirmed this week that Hibernian striker Martin Boyle will miss the competition, which is a blow to the Socceroos as significant as Benzema’s miss is for their opponents. But it also serves to underline the gulf between these two sides in terms of quality.

This is not a team that is expected to compete at Qatar 2022. Indeed, on paper, the Aussies have one of the weakest squads in the tournament, and they only limped into the competition via a penalty shootout victory over Peru in June.

Since then, Graham Arnold’s side has recorded a couple of victories over New Zealand, but those matches are little preparation for what is to come against France, Denmark and Tunisia.

No blue wave

France opened their 2018 campaign against Australia with a scrappy 2-1 victory, and Tuesday’s match is likely to be similarly ugly. Les Bleus are unlikely to be fluent following their disrupted preparation, while their opponents should be well drilled.

This will be the sixth meeting between these sides and France have only won once by more than a single goal. Backing Australia with a +2 handicap is tempting.

With individualism liable to be key to France in attack, look for Kylian Mbappe to shine. He has 11 goals in his last 10 internationals, and he can provide the first strike in this game.

France v Australia Tip

Kylian Mbappe first goalscorer @ 3.65