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Agony for Australia as fortunate late Pogba goal wins it for France after VAR penalty controversy

Nick Metcalfe
Paul Pogba celebrates with his teammate Olivier Giroud after France’s dramatic late winner in Kazan (AP Photo/David Vincent)
Paul Pogba celebrates with his teammate Olivier Giroud after France’s dramatic late winner in Kazan (AP Photo/David Vincent)

A dramatic late goal from Paul Pogba saw France escape with a narrow 2-1 victory over Australia, in a game that saw the first ever World Cup goal awarded by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

Only ten minutes remained in Kazan when Paul Pogba linked up well with Olivier Giroud and saw his clever flick deflected into his own net by Aziz Behich, off the underside of the crossbar.

It wasn’t a game rich in entertainment, but burst into life in the second half with two penalties – the first controversially awarded by VAR following a review – as one of the World Cup favourites began with an unconvincing win.

AS IT UNFOLDED: France v Australia

READ MORE: First VAR causes controversy over Griezmann penalty

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Mile Jedinak celebrates after equalising for Australia in Kazan (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Mile Jedinak celebrates after equalising for Australia in Kazan (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

With thousands of Australian fans in good voice, the atmosphere in Kazan was terrific, as the first match of a bumper four-game Saturday began in bright sunshine.

It was 1998 winners France that started on the front foot, and after only two minutes Kylian Mbappe forced Mat Ryan to make a save at his near post.

Soon after, Antoine Griezmann floated a dangerous free-kick into the Australia penalty area, which Aaron Mooy did well to head over his own crossbar.

Antoine Griezmann celebrates after his penalty put France ahead against Australia (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Antoine Griezmann celebrates after his penalty put France ahead against Australia (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

But Australia slowly grew into the game and a Mooy free-kick took a deflection off French defender Corentin Tolisso, with France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris scrambling to make a fine save.

World Cup day three – the story in pictures

You never know what to expect from France on the biggest stage of course. They conquered the world twenty years ago on home soil, and also reached the 2006 final, but they’ve imploded at plenty of other tournaments.

This time, they have been widely tipped to go a long way. But as the first half wore on, they rather ran out of ideas. And just before the break, Behich curled a shot over the bar for Australia.

France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, right, makes a save in front of Australia’s Trent Sainsbury (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, right, makes a save in front of Australia’s Trent Sainsbury (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

France needed some inspiration in the second half, and out of nothing they went in front after 58 minutes, when Antoine Griezmann went down under a challenge from Josh Risdon. Many pundits called it as not being a penalty, but VAR decided otherwise and Griezmann scored from the spot.

The lead didn’t last long however, with Samuel Umtiti inexplicably handling the ball from a Mooy free-kick and Mile Jedinak sending Lloris the wrong way.

France didn’t look particularly inspired as the game entered its closing stages, but Pogba made himself a nuisance when it mattered, and poor Behich could only watch helplessly as the ball floated in. Victory for the French then, but they’ll need to improve on this in their matches to come.

Key Opta stats:

  • This is the fourth successive World Cup that France have started the tournament unbeaten (W2 D2 L0), last losing in 2002 against Senegal.

  • Australia have lost four of their five opening World Cup games, with their only win coming against Japan in 2006.

  • France have only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last seven international games, against Republic of Ireland in May.

  • All four of Australian Mat Ryan’s saves vs France came in the opening eight minutes, with the keeper conceding the next two shots on target faced.

  • The two penalties scored in the game between France and Australia were only four minutes, seven seconds apart – the shortest period of time between two penalties being scored by different sides in a World Cup match.

  • France v Australia became the first World Cup match since Senegal v Uruguay in World Cup 2002 to see both teams score a penalty in normal time.

  • France are unbeaten in the 18 games that Antoine Griezmann has scored in (W16 D2 L0).

  • Antoine Griezmann has been directly involved in nine of France’s last 13 goals in major tournaments (World Cup and European Championships), with seven goals and two assists.

  • The average age of France’s starting XI (24y 196d) was their youngest in a World Cup match since July 1930 vs Chile.

  • At 19 years and 178 days old, Kylian Mbappe is the youngest player to make an appearance at a major tournament for France (World Cup and European Championships).

  • Daniel Arzani has become the youngest player to ever make a World Cup appearance for Australia (19y 163d).