France vs. Australia: Top Storylines, Odds, Live Stream for World Cup 2022
The reigning World Cup champion begins its title defense at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday.
France opens its Group D slate against Australia in one of a few matches that are expected to have lopsided scores.
Les Bleus are also paired with Denmark and Tunisia in their section, and the two European sides are favored to make it into the knockout round.
France has to avoid the curse of previous World Cup champions to get into the round of 16. Italy, Spain and Germany all ended their respective title defenses in 2010, 2014 and 2018 with group-stage eliminations.
The French enter the tournament with a laundry list of injuries that added two more players in the week before the finals, when Christopher Nkunku and Karim Benzema left the squad.
Kylian Mbappé was already expected to be the star of the team, but even more pressure will be on his shoulders now with the attacking depth slimmed down a bit.
Australia has featured at each of the last four World Cups, but it only managed to get out of the group stage once, in 2006. The Socceroos have five losses in their last six World Cup matches.
Odds and Match Info
Odds
France (-350; bet $350 to win $100)
Australia (+1000; bet $100 to win $1,000)
Draw (+500)
Over 2.5 Goals (-135); Under 2.5 Goals (+110)
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Match Info
Date: Tuesday, November 22
Start Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and Fox Sports app
How Does France Deal with Injury Absences?
France is perhaps the team in men's international soccer best suited to deal with a wide range of injuries.
Les Bleus start their World Cup repeat campaign without N'Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Presnal Kimpembe, Christopher Nkunku and Karim Benzema.
They can deal with the Nkunku and Benzema injuries best, though, because Kylian Mbappé is still on the roster.
The 23-year-old was the breakout star of the last World Cup and he is expected to be in the mix for the Golden Boot in his second finals appearance.
Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembélé are among the players who will have increased roles in Qatar. Giroud and Griezmann both have more international goals than Mbappé, and their experience could be vital later in the tournament.
The easier group schedule allows France to at least figure out its best midfield configuration before the knockout stage. Wins over Australia and Tunisia are expected, and the clash with Denmark should decide first place in Group D.
Real Madrid's Aurélien Tchouameni will be one of the key figures in midfield without Kante and Pogba on the roster. Matteo Guendouzi, Adrien Rabiot and a few others will attempt to soften the blow created by the absences of the two world-class central midfielders.
Tuesday's game is important for France to find a rhythm on the pitch. It lost two of its last three games in the UEFA Nations League before the World Cup, with one of those losses coming against Denmark.
France needs three points against Australia, no matter who is on the field, in case another defeat to the Danes occurs in the second group game.
Australia Looking to End World Cup Losing Run
Australia has been consistent in getting to the World Cup and losing in the group stage.
The Socceroos have five losses in their last six matches at the tournament. They took last place in their group in Russia, which also featured France and Denmark.
Australia lost by one goal in its opener against France four years ago. The Socceroos gave up a penalty to Griezmann and scored an own goal in the 81st minute to give France three points.
They did not score from open play at the 2018 World Cup. Mile Jedinak scored penalties against France and Denmark.
Their last non-penalty goal at the World Cup came courtesy of Tim Cahill in the second group game in 2014. He and Jedinak are the only Australian players to score at the last two World Cups.
Australia comes into the tournament with just one player who has more than 10 goals at the international level. Mathew Leckie has 13 goals in 73 appearances.
In order to be competitive, the Socceroos need to figure out where the goals will come from, and if they can come from open play against two of the best European sides and a tough Tunisia side.
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