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Australia were undone by France in Group C's opening fixture at the Kazan Arena. The Socceroos faced heartbreak after an inspiring performance in the first-half which saw them suffocate France with their rigidity at the back. However, the second 45 paved way for controversy and drama of the highest order as Les Bleus took the lead through Antoine Griezmann after they were awarded a penalty following the intervention of VAR.
Bert van Marwijk's side did not lose heart and were handed a lifeline just minutes afterwards in the 62nd, when Barcelona's Samuel Umtiti made an absurd decision to handle the ball inside the penalty area from an inviting delivery. Mile Jedinak made no mistake from the spot and restored parity for his side to breathe life back into the game.
Despite winning many hearts with their resolute performance against one of the tournament's hot favourites, Australia finally succumbed to the pressure in the 80th minute when Paul Pogba's toe-poke finish took a wicked deflection on its way to the crossbar and landed just over the line, denying Matt Ryan any hopes of stopping it.
Without further ado, let's take a look at a few things that went wrong for Australia on the afternoon:
#3 Eventually succumbing to the French onslaught
The two teams came into this game with contrasting ambitions to say the least. France were considered to be one of the best bets to win this summer's tournament, having won their qualifying group en-route to Russia while the Socceroos booked their tickets after beating Honduras in an intercontinental play-off game.
On paper there was only ever one winner but Australia did not let that faze them, producing a stunning collective display to keep Didier Deschamps' men at bay in the first-half after an early attacking flurry. This was thanks to some resilient defending from Trent Sainsbury and Mark Milligan in particular at the back.
However, the second-half saw Les Bleus push further forward and they managed to achieve what all champions do in the end, get over the line during a frustrating outing like this one proved to be.
Credit where its due, Australia can take inspiration from their display for the group games to come but despite getting themselves back on level terms after the hour mark, they will be disappointed to have succumbed to the pressure created by France in the final 20 minutes of the game.
In a tournament of such magnitude, you cannot afford to fall asleep - not even for a second!
#2 Gulf in class
In the end France did just about enough to get themselves over the line but perhaps in the most uncharacteristic way possible. Les Bleus were expected to hit the ground running straight from kick-off but things did not go according to plan and were forced to wait patiently, until the 52nd minute to open the scoring.
Just like Australian winger Mathew Leckie rightfully pointed out yesterday, France on paper would prove too much to handle for them but the sheer unpredictability of the beautiful game ensured we witnessed a highly contested fixture, right from the referee's first whistle to kick-start proceedings in Kazan.
Despite staking a claim to take something away from the game, the inevitable gulf in class between the two sides coupled with a tinge of fortune ultimately turned the game in France's favour in the end.
#1 VAR and lady luck
If you're an underdog in world football, there are two things that need to be in your favour if you are to do the unthinkable on the biggest stage of them all. The first being work ethic and the other being the element of luck, which eluded Australia on the afternoon despite showing no compromise from the word go.
Be it the referee's retrospective decision to award France's penalty, having consulted the video assistant referee (VAR) for the first time in a World Cup game, in the wake of Josh Risdon's challenge on Antoine Griezmann - or Paul Pogba's 80th-minute winner which cannoned in off the crossbar with a wicked deflection.
It's clear to see that both VAR and lady luck handed no favours whatsoever to the Socceroos who were narrowly close to making the headlines with a surprise result to kick off the World Cup in style.
