France defeats Australia 2:1 at 2018 FIFA World Cup
In the middle of the second half, defender of the Australia team Josh Risdon fouled the French striker Antoine Griezmann. Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha did not stop the game at first, but after the Video Assistance Referee system (VAR) was used he awarded a penalty, and also yellow carded Risdon. Griezmann converted a penalty kick at the 58th minute.
A few minutes later the French defender Samuel Umtiti committed a handball in his own box, and the referee awarded a penalty to the French team. Michael "Mile" Jedinak converted a penalty kick at the 62nd minute. On the 81st minute Paul Pogba scored the winning goal.
The national teams of Denmark and Peru, that are rivals of Australia and France in the group, will play against each other in the city of Saransk later on Saturday. The match will start at 7.00 pm Moscow time.
A total of 32 national football teams are participating in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, held in 11 cities across Russia between June 14 and July 15.
The teams were divided into eight groups, with four in each, and the top two from their relevant groups will proceed to the next round, known as the playoffs or the knockout stage, to keep vying for the much-coveted FIFA World Cup Trophy.
Russia is holding its first time ever edition of the FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a spectacular opening show at the Luzhniki Stadium on the night of June 14. The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.