France beat Asian powerhouses Australia, Denmark and Croatia win, Argentina tied

Antoine Griezmann scored the first Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) assisted penalty awarded in the history of the World Cup as title hopefuls France battled to a 2-1 win over gutsy Australia in Kazan.

The Atletico Madrid star wrote his name into the history books after he went down under a tackle from Josh Risdon in the penalty box in the second half of the Group C fixture.

Referee Andres Cunha from Uruguay did not initially award a spot-kick but after viewing the VAR footage, ruled it was a penalty and Griezmann coolly slotted past Socceroos’ goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.

But Australian captain Mile Jedinak levelled only four minutes later after a clear hand ball by Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti.

Didier Deschamps’ men were frustrated throughout by a gutsy Australian defensive display and French pride was only restored in the 81st.

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, still wearing a bandage around a recent head injury, had replaced Griezmann only minutes earlier and played a one-two with Paul Pogba on the edge of the area.

The Manchester United midfielder’s shot took a deflection off the boot of defender Aziz Behich before evading the outstretched hands of Ryan and bouncing over the line off the crossbar.

Croatia beat Nigeria’s young guns

A Luka Modric penalty and an own goal from Oghenekaro Etebo gave former semifinalists Croatia an easy 2-0 win over Nigeria in their World Cup Group D opener.

In Russia’s sleepy European exclave of Kaliningrad — perhaps best known for its nuclear missile sites — the much-hyped youngsters of Nigeria struggled to ignite against Croatia’s midfield technicians.

Nigeria were content to sit back and allow Croatia to come to them. But they were rigid and well-organised, and largely restricted Luka Modric’s distribution to the flanks. 

Nigeria Coach Gernot Rohr kept faith in 19-year-old keeper Francis Uzoho but the Deportivo stopper's first real action was picking the ball out of the net.

Just after the half-hour mark, Mandzukic, industrious in his hold-up play, chested a Andrej Kramaric cross back to Ante Rebic, whose fizzing shot was blocked. The resulting corner saw Rebic return the favour with a near-post flick on met by a diving Mandzukic. 

Etebo was wrong-footed and bundled into his own net. 

Just as Nigeria showed some signs of life, William Ekong held down Mandzukic from a cross in the area and referee Sandro did not hesitate to point to the spot.

Modric’s gilded right foot guided it to Uzoho’s right side.

Iceland stun Argentina with 1-1 draw

Tiny Iceland made a stunning first-ever World Cup appearance when they held 2014 runners-up Argentina to a 1-1 draw in a dramatic match where Lionel Messi blew his chance to win it when he had a penalty saved by Hannes Por Halldorsson.

Sergio Aguero had given the twice world champions the lead after 19 minutes of the Group D match. However, Iceland showed exactly the same commitment and self-belief as when they stunned the football world with their run to the quarterfinals of the European Championship two years ago and hit back four minutes later through Alfred Finnbogason.

The South Americans looked more assured in attack and went ahead when Aguero turned tightly in the box and smashed in an unstoppable shot.

Iceland, however, are not a team to sit back and sulk and soon forced an equaliser when keeper Willy Caballero palmed Gylfi Sigurdsson’s low shot straight into the path of Finnbogason to sweep into the unguarded net.

Messi, who had a remarkable 11 shots during the match, missed a poorly-struck 64th-minute penalty.

Denmark edges Peru in tight game

Yussuf Poulsen redeemed himself by scoring the solitary goal against Peru after giving away a first-half penalty as Denmark picked up a crucial victory in Group C to begin their World Cup campaign at the Mordovia Arena.

Christian Cueva ballooned the penalty, awarded after VAR consultation, over the bar just before halftime, the most glaring of several misses for the Latin American side, who were back in the World Cup finals after a gap of 36 years.

Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Christian Eriksen had an otherwise quiet outing but provided the decisive moment when he threaded an immaculate pass through the defence for Poulsen to beat advancing Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese in the 59th.