France (4-2-1-3)
Hugo Lloris (GK) The France captain had little to do after the opening handshake. Powerless to stop Australia’s opening goal. 6
Benjamin Pavard (RB) Solid if unspectacular night with France looking to overload down the left. 6
Ibrahima Konaté (CB) He might not be in favour at Anfield but the 23-year-old shone for his country, regularly stepping out of defence to snuff out danger and set up transitional attacks. 8
Dayot Upamecano (CB) Confident and composed in the centre of a defence lacking a stack of usual suspects. 7
Lucas Hernandez/Theo Hernandez (LB) Lucas Hernandez’s World Cup may have only lasted 13 minutes after he landed awkwardly in the build-up to Australia’s goal. Brother Theo seized his opportunity as a substitute, raiding time and again from fullback down the left flank and sending over plenty of teasing crosses and smart cutbacks. 8
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Aurélien Tchouameni (DM) Not the type of game for a player of his qualities to shine and he contributed to France’s nervy start in midfield but thereafter he did his job. 6
Adrien Rabiot (CM) Guilty of being caught in possession early, Rabiot took the game by the scruff of the neck and by half-time he had a goal and an assist. An excellent link between defence and attack, especially in broken play, but Deschamps will want more control against stronger opposition. 8
Antoine Griezmann (AM) Ability to drift into space between the lines made him a menace all night. France’s Plan A was to attack down the flanks but they looked more penetrating when Griezmann got on the ball in central areas, dictating sharp triangles with his other forwards. 8
Ousmane Dembélé (RW) Blistering pace a constant threat down the right hand side. Skinning Aziz Behich early set the tone. 7
Kylian Mbappé (LW) Scored one, should have filled his boots, but from go to whoa he tormented Australia down the left hand side. He came into this tournament full of expectation and on this form he looks set to deliver. 8
Olivier Giroud (CF) No Benzema, no worries. France’s big man did what he does, bagging a brace with the minimum of fuss, equalling Thierry Henry as his country’s record goalscorer in the process. 8
Other subs: Youssouf Fofana and Kingsley Coman (77 mins), Jules Koundé and Marcus Thuram (89 mins) n/a
Australia (4-3-2-1)
Mat Ryan (GK) Difficult night for the Australian skipper. Couldn’t do a lot with any of the finishes and made some decent saves to keep the score down. Played his part for France’s second though with the decision to play out from the back via Nathaniel Atkinson. 6
Nathaniel Atkinson (RB) A chastening night for the first Tasmanian to feature at a World Cup. Roasted to a crisp by Mbappé and then feasted on by the overlapping Hernandez. 3
Harry Souttar (CB) Set up the opening goal with a majestic crossfield pass and tried his best to stem the waves of French attacks. Disappointingly unthreatening from set-pieces. 6
Kye Rowles (CB) Like Souttar, Rowles was put through his paces on World Cup debut but he put in a solid shift and executed a memorable last-ditch challenge to deny Mbappé. 5
Aziz Behich (LB) Most of the play was down the other side but Behich had his fair share of work dealing with Dembélé. The honours went to the Frenchman but Behich landed a couple of blows of his own, looked to get forward when he could in the early phases and made a superb goal-line clearance in the second half. 6
Aaron Mooy (CM) Australia’s metronome kept the game ticking over in the opening 20 minutes but thereafter he lost his timing and was caught in possession repeatedly. In his defence he had nothing to aim for when he raised his head. 6
Jackson Irvine (CM) Graham Arnold promised plenty of bite from his side but it only materialised in the form of Irvine. He could have been booked a handful of times before he was eventually cautioned but he lived up to the demand for “Aussie DNA”. Skimmed the post with a first-half header. 7
Riley McGree (CM) Anonymous. 4
Mathew Leckie (RW) Set up the opening goal with a brilliant piece of control on the right touchline before delivering a perfect cross. Faded thereafter. 5
Craig Goodwin (LW) Australia’s likeliest source of danger raided down the left early on and scored the game’s opening goal with an excellent finish high into Lloris’s net. Like the rest of his team he drifted out of the contest. Set-piece delivery disappointing. 6
Mitchell Duke (CF) Australia’s prong ran and jumped and hassled and competed but got no change from France’s defence. Increasingly isolated as the game wore on. 5
Substitutes: Jason Cummings (56) Did nothing to justify the Twitter trending topic of #Cumdog. 4 Other subs: Awer Mabil and Garang Kuol (73), Milos Degenek and Keanu Baccus (85) n/a
