Lucky France ready for Peru

Russia (AP):

The pre-tournament favourites at this World Cup have struggled so far. France is no exception but at least it has a win.

Les Bleus, who are seventh in the FIFA world rankings, got past Australia 2-1 in their opener despite a mostly lacklustre effort from their trio of elite strikers.

France benefited from some good fortune. Its first goal came after a penalty called with the aid of video review. Then it scored again on a fluky goal that was found by goal-line technology to have crossed the line and was later determined to have been last touched by an Australian player.

France was one of only two teams ranked in FIFA's top seven to win its opening match. The other was Belgium.

A win on Thursday night against Peru at Yekaterinburg Arena would put France in position to wrap up a second consecutive appearance in the round of 16.

The Peruvians held a 17-10 advantage in shots on goal but failed to capitalise on their chances during a 1-0 loss to Denmark . Peru's task could be even harder against Group C favourite France, which it will be facing for the first time in World Cup play.

The only previous meeting between the teams was a 1982 friendly that Peru won 1-0.

France outshot its opponent 12-6. Griezmann had five of those attempts, Mbappe had one and Dembele played 70 minutes without a shot on goal. Griezmann's goal came after a penalty, the by- product of a video assistant referee review of a foul on the sideline.

The other goal was initially credited to Paul Pogba before a panel of former coaches and players determined it actually came off a touch by Australia's Aziz Behich.

France can't count on such good fortune against a disciplined Peru defence, and coach Didier Deschamps didn't rule out tweaking his line-up.

"I will have 11 (players) against Peru," Deschamps said. "It may be the same, it may be different ones, but those three attacking players played as they should play. I have a good group. Each of them has his say among the 23 players."