France win World Cup opener, Tel bags a brace for the U19s

Defending champions France's opening win at the World Cup was marred by a serious injury to Bayern defender Lucas Hernández: the 26-year-old suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his right knee in the 4-1 (2-1) win over Australia and had to come off in the 13th minute of the match. "The win is also for him," said club and country teammate Benjamin Pavard after the final whistle, who alongside Dayot Upamecano had started the match for the French side. The German record champions' Kingsley Coman came off the bench later in the match.

After the early opener from Craig Goodwin (9th minute), the Équipe Tricolore fought back and turned the game around with goals from Adrien Rabiot (27') and Olivier Giroud (32') before the break. After changing ends, Kylian Mbappé (68') and Giroud (71') added to the tally.

Tel through to elite round with France U19s

Thanks to a brace from Bayern striker Mathys Tel, the France U19 national team also won their third match of the first qualifying round for EURO 2023. In a 3-1 (3-0) win over Scotland, Tel put his side on the road to victory early on with his two goals (20'/29' pen.). Edan Diop added a third (31') while Mackenzie Carse pulled one back for the Scots. As group winners, the Équipe Tricolore youngsters will now take part in the elite round in the spring, in which the seven participants, along with hosts Malta, will be determined for the final round which takes place from 3 to 16 July 2023.

Tel's teammate Matthijs de Ligt also celebrated an opening win with the Netherlands: