Olivier Giroud's Historic Career Praised as Kylian Mbappé, France Crush Australia
Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRT
Featured Columnist IVNovember 22, 2022
There was a moment during Tuesday's final game at the World Cup when another upset appeared to be brewing.
Australia scored the first goal against defending champions France within nine minutes, and after Saudi Arabia's shocking upset of Argentina earlier in the day, there was a feeling that anything could happen at Qatar's winter World Cup.
France promptly extinguished that belief, led by the explosive attacking pair of Oliver Giroud and Kylian Mbappé.
Giroud's brace and Mbappé's goal and assist led France in a swashbuckling and dominant 4-1 performance that could have been far worse for the Aussies. France recovered from its early concession by swarming the Australian box for the remainder of the game.
It was a historic performance for Giroud, who tied Thierry Henry for the most international goals in French history (51). It was yet another impressive showing from Mbappé, arguably the brightest young star in the game today.
Suffice to say, football Twitter was singing the pair's praises after the match:
Giroud likely will break Henry's record at this World Cup, with Karim Benzema injured. And someday, Mbappé will almost assuredly break Giroud's record.
Australia was always going to be overmatched against France, early shocker or not, but Tuesday's performance was a reminder that the French are real threats to defend as champions.
They don't have many weaknesses. Their ability to break opponents down on either flank and create chance after chance is a cascading wave that tends to find any cracks in a defensive dam. They are experienced and deep, and Mbappé may be the best player at the tournament, full stop.
How many countries could lose a Ballon d'Or winner like Benzema and still look like this? How many could plug that gap with a player of Giroud's quality?
Not many, is the answer. Maybe none.
So yes, upsets were in the air on Tuesday. France descended upon them like a tornado, blowing out Australia in a performance that reminded the world of the threat posed by the defending champs.