AL-WAKRAH: Defending champions France retained their dominance over spirited Australia and handed them a crushing 4-1 defeat despite an early lead in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Group D fixture on Tuesday.

Reigning champions scripted a perfect start to their title defence as they downed spirited Australia 4-1 in their opening FIFA World Cup 2022 match.

Didier Deschamps’ side had a rather unwanted start to their campaign as they endured an early setback in form of Craig Goodwin’s ninth-minute goal.

Despite an early deficit, France, held their composure and launched a counterattack that soon paid them as Adrien Rabiot fired an equalizer in the 27th minute.

Olivier Giroud then soon put France in the lead in the 32nd minute as he scored his 50th international goal.

France’s star player Kylian Mbappe then joined the party in the second half as he got his name on the scoresheet who got into the box after a wayward cross as Ousmane Dembele picked up the ball and floated the ball for Mbappe to fire in a perfect header.

Giroud then struck again in the 71st minute to seal the win and also equaled Henry’s record tally of 51 goals for France.

The dominant victory over Australia propelled France to the top of Group D standings after the Denmark-Tunisia stalemate earlier.

The defending champions next face Denmark on Saturday, while Australia will take on Tunisia on the same day.