France 2 Australia 1

Seems a little perverse to point to the absent players as a sign of France’s strength, but they still have the likes of Mbappe, Griezmann, Pogba, Dembele and Kante. Australia have Rogic though.

First disappointment of the day was the revelation that Mark Lawrenson is here, the king of the tumbleweed-followed joke and practiced cynicism, sighing and tutting his way through games. He moans constantly about the use of technology, he moans when it doesn’t make decisions he agrees with, he moans when it gets things right. 

Second disappointment was the first half where Australia nullified the creative French players without threatening much themselves, which didn’t make for a great watch. 

Then, inevitably, the first VAR controversy as the referee awarded France a penalty after watching a replay of a tackle himself. It hardly seemed a clear and obvious error not to give it. The Aussies soon got their own penalty, and no VAR required here as Umtiti handled for no apparent reason.

So the game brightened a little without setting the pulses racing and a Pogba goal which may or may not have been a fluke and crossed the line by an inch won it for an unconvincing France.