West Indies call-up Tagenarine Chanderpaul insists he is focused on being himself ahead of a possible debut for the Caribbean team in the upcoming series against Australia next week.

On Thursday, the 26-year-old Chanderpaul made 119 off 293 balls during the team’s warm-up game against a Prime Minister’s XI, in the ongoing four-day tour match in Canberra.  The knock featured a risp 11 fours and a six on his way to reaching triple figures.

Chanderpaul, who was called up to the team last month, is widely expected to partner Windies captain Kraigg Brathwaite at the top of the innings for the match-up with the world number-one ranked Aussies, following the suspension of John Campbell.

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Ahead of the player’s potential debut, comparisons to his famous father, West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, are inescapable.  In an outstanding 164 Test match career for the West Indies, Chanderpaul scored 11867 runs, which puts him second all-time behind the great Brian Lara.  It’s a towering legacy to live up to.

“They’re big boots but I try and be myself.  I can only be myself, so I just try and be me,” the young Chanderpaul said after Thursday's match.

Like his father, Tagenarine has shown the propensity to be watchful and patient at the crease, which could bode well for the regional team.  The batsman, however, is hoping to eventually be recognized for his own style.

"I try and be myself. I can't replicate him, so I can only be myself. Fingers crossed… I'll try to get some runs if I'm selected."

Wales and Australia are each set to hand two players their international debuts when the sides meet at the Principality Stadium this weekend.

The two teams face off in their final game of the November international period, as they look to close out on a winning note in Cardiff.

There will be a first appearance for centre Joe Hawkins for the hosts after he was drafted into the squad following Owen Watkin's absence through injury.

Sam Talakai, meanwhile, is primed to figure off the bench for the visitors, though James Hooper has been ruled out with a concussion sustained in last weekend's loss to Ireland.

Wayne Pivac's side hand a first start since 2021 to Leigh Halfpenny at full-back, while Taulupe Faletau will make his 100th Test appearance between Wales and the British and Irish Lions at number eight.

Alun Wyn Jones will also extend his own record as the most-capped men's rugby union international in history as part of the second row.

Playmaker Ben Donaldson gets a first start at fly half for the Wallabies, partnering Jake Gordon, while James Slipper will lead at prop.

Jordan Petaia, on the bench last time out, makes the move to start on the wing for Dave Rennie's side.

Wales team: Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, George North, Joe Hawkins, Rio Dyer, Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Ken Owens, Dillon Lewis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements; Ryan Elias, Rhodri Jones, Tomas Francis, Ben Carter, Josh Macleod, Kieran Hardy, Rhys Priestland, Josh Adams.

Australia team: Tom Wright, Jordan Petaia, Len Ikitau, Reece Hodge, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Ben Donaldson, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, Folau Fainga’a, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Cadeyrn Neville, Jed Holloway, Fraser McReight, Langi Gleeson.

Replacements: Lachlan Lonergan, Tom Robertson, Sam Talakai, Ned Hanigan, Pete Samu, Tate McDermott, Noah Lolesio, Jock Campbell.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored a hard-fought 119 off 293 balls on Thursday to lift his side to 234 for 7 at stumps on day two of the pink-ball match against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.

The tourists made a bright start to their innings, moving to 94 without loss following strong efforts from Chanderpaul and Kraigg Brathwaite. But, when Brathwaite chopped on a Steketee delivery for 47, it sparked a collapse of 44 for 4 as West Indies began to fold.

Western Australia paceman Joel Paris found the edge of Nkrumah Bonner's bat to send him packing for a duck before spinner Todd Murphy bowled Devon Thomas and then trapped Kyle Mayers in front eight overs later. Chanderpaul held the innings together, striking 13 fours and one six on the way to posting his sixth first class century.

Victoria’s Murphy claimed 3 for 27 in an impressive display, while Western Australia’s Joel Paris also claimed three scalps.

Earlier, The PM's XI made 322 in their first innings, leaving the four-day clash delicately balanced.

The PM's XI added a further 25 runs to their overnight score of 297 for 9 before Mark Steketee was last man out for 15. Paceman Alzarri Joseph was the pick of the touring bowlers with 4 for 65, while spinner Roston Chase finished with 2 for 72.

Garang Kuol became Australia's youngest World Cup star on Tuesday but noted the "big difference" he must bridge in order to regularly rub shoulders with the likes of Kylian Mbappe.

Kuol, who at 18 years and 68 days old was the ninth-youngest player in the tournament's history, was brought on as a 73rd-minute substitute moments after the final goal in the Socceroos' 4-1 opening defeat to holders France.

The highly talented winger – already confirmed as a Newcastle United signing ahead of a January move – enjoyed a few bright touches yet saw a significant gap to his opponents.

Kuol did not start a single A-League game for Central Coast Mariners, although he scored six goals in 326 minutes from the bench.

Meanwhile, Mbappe was France's star man as they took the title in Russia 2018 four years ago and appears to be in the mood to repeat the feat.

"You could see the level that they're at," Kuol said afterwards.

"They're 6ft 4[in] people who are as quick as me, so there was a big difference between me and some of those players. Only hard work will get me to that level.

"I think it was a good taste to see the level the players are at. Some play in the Premier League, some play in the Champions League, so it was good to get that taste of the level."

Mbappe in particular was relentless after a slow start had seen Australia lead through Craig Goodwin in the ninth minute.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward scored the third goal before creating the fourth for Olivier Giroud, having also had a role in the second – again scored by Giroud.

Mbappe had 19 touches in the Australia box – the most by any player in a World Cup match since 1970 – and completed three dribbles.

Australia right-back Nathaniel Atkinson endured a torrid time, not helped by the introduction of attacking France left-back Theo Hernandez after his brother Lucas was injured attempting to prevent the Socceroos goal.

Atkinson was dribbled past twice and gave away possession on 12 occasions, including an error leading to France's second.

"It's obviously the first time I've come up against this type of opposition in my career," Atkinson said.

"Obviously, I've taken full responsibility for the second goal, but the beauty of the tournament is you can't dwell on it because you've got another game to fix it in three days.

"It's a good experience. It's an eye-opener. There's a reason [Mbappe] is earning 200million [Australian] dollars a year and I am where I am, but that's something to look forward to.

"It's good to come up against this calibre. You know what to work on. I know what to fix; I've played that scenario 50 times over and I could probably come up with 50 different solutions. That's football. I'm disappointed.

"It's just the physicality of the guy. The pace... it's not hidden how quick that guy is – you give him one step and he's gone.

"As a team, you can always come up with a plan, but sometimes if it's one-v-one and he gets the better of you, it's a learning curve.

"You can get your confidence up with getting a few challenges in, but there's a reason why he's one of the top three players in the world."

Australia are not giving up hope, inspired by Saudi Arabia's sensational defeat of Argentina earlier on Tuesday.

"Anything can happen," Atkinson added. "You see what Saudi did against Argentina.

"We've come up against the world champions, and there's a reason for that. They're a good footballing team. We can take confidence from the way we played early on in that game."

Hugo Lloris fears Lucas Hernandez has suffered an "important injury", dealing France yet another blow as they bid to defend their World Cup crown.

France began their campaign with a 4-1 win over Australia on Tuesday but were without Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Christopher Nkunku and Karim Benzema, who were all ruled out of the tournament.

And left-back Hernandez was added to that injury list after he went down in attempting to stop Matthew Leckie's cross for Australia's shock opener.

The outlook does not look positive for the Bayern Munich defender, but France captain Lloris hopes his team-mates can rally as they have done before.

"It's never good to see one of your team-mates leaving the field in that way," he said. "I believe it's an important injury.

"He's not the first one, but we have to continue to look forward. Unfortunately we could not count on him, but we have a team with other players that we trust.

"We have to stay together and keep believing, keep our focus on that."

Lloris added: "We have important players left on the side for injuries, but luckily we have a lot of talented players in France, players we can trust, because they have the talent, the mentality and the desire to perform at the highest level.

"We try to create something special inside the team day by day. We try to enjoy the moment, not only on the pitch but also off the pitch.

"We have to take it game by game. Obviously it's a World Cup, there's no easy games and we have to be ready to face difficulties. When we face difficulties, we have to make sure that everybody raises their level."

The previous three holders have exited the World Cup at the group stage, but that sequence appears unlikely to be extended now.

Indeed, France's 4-1 win was the biggest in the first game of a title defence in World Cup history.

"We're obviously pleased with the result and pleased with the performance," Lloris said.

"I believe we had a good start in that game, but unfortunately we conceded that goal. We also lost one of our team-mates in this action by injury.

"But the team stayed calm, and we took control of the game and slowly started to dominate and created chances, then we scored one and two.

"Second half, I think we controlled perfectly. It's a good start."

Didier Deschamps has defended his decision to substitute Olivier Giroud in France's World Cup win over Australia, delaying his bid to become France's all-time leading goalscorer outright.

Giroud equalled Thierry Henry's record of 51 goals for France with a brace on Tuesday, helping Les Bleus fight back to post a 4-1 win in their Group D contest.

However, the striker was replaced by Marcus Thuram in the closing stages, meaning he will have to wait until Saturday's meeting with Denmark for another chance to seize the record for himself. 

Deschamps was defensive when asked why he withdrew Giroud in his post-match press conference, responding: "Would you like to take my place and be the coach? 

"Olivier Giroud did what he does best, he scored goals. You have to manage a lot of things as a coach.

"We have another match in four days and we'd already scored four goals, so sometimes it's good to give someone else a chance and give him a rest.

"You tend to talk about records a lot, he tends to focus on what he does on the pitch. 

"He was very effective tonight, which is great for him, he's useful with the way he links up with the other attackers in our team."

As well as claiming a slice of France history, Giroud – aged 36 years and 53 days – became the second-oldest player to score a World Cup brace, after Roger Milla did so twice at the 1990 tournament when 38 years old.

France initially looked unlikely to make a positive start to their World Cup defence, with Adrien Rabiot having to cancel out Craig Goodwin's opener before Giroud took centre stage.

Deschamps was pleased with Les Bleus' response to going behind after witnessing other sides fail to fight back in the tournament's opening round of fixtures.

"I think we began the match well, we linked up well in the first few minutes but we let in a goal which we should have avoided," Deschamps said.

"It was tough, but in the second half we showed a lot more confidence, we created a lot more chances and scored four goals, so of course that is good. We could have scored more, but it's a very good beginning.

"The first match is always vital, so I have to congratulate the team. We saw some earlier games where teams were unable to respond, but we did. We showed strength of character."

Tuesday began with one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history as Saudi Arabia beat Argentina 2-1, but Deschamps said that surprise result had no bearing on France's approach.

"The players saw that match, but you have to focus on the opponent that's in front of you," he added.

Olivier Giroud feels "blessed" to have matched Thierry Henry's France goalscoring record with a brace against Australia that marked his first World Cup goals since 2014.

Giroud was a key part of the France side that won the title at Russia 2018, but he failed to score across seven matches.

The Milan striker's only previous World Cup goal had been the opener in a group-stage rout of Switzerland eight years ago, a meagre return from 12 appearances in the competition.

But Giroud never doubted himself, insisting after Tuesday's double in a 4-1 win he had not received the same level of chances in 2018.

He accrued 1.7 expected goals from five shots at Al Janoub Stadium, having had chances worth just 1.2 xG across the entirety of the previous World Cup.

"Not really," Giroud replied when asked if he was relieved. "I just try to bring what I can do to the team.

"When I get the opportunity, I try to always put it in the back of the net. This time, I couldn't miss, because I received great balls.

"If you watch the World Cup 2018, I didn't get as many chances as I would hope. Those were different kinds of games. It's very good for confidence for the next stage."

Giroud's second goal from a Kylian Mbappe cross was his 51st for France, matching Henry's record return.

"I don't like to speak about myself," Giroud said. "I will say that we started the competition well. It was massively important to win this first game.

"We started the game in not the best way, but we've shown a great character and we bounced back straight away, which was very important.

"Personally, obviously, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be next to Titi Henry now."

He added to TF1: "It's a source of great pride, I don't intend to stop there. I hope to continue in the competition so that I can help the team achieve our goal."

Didier Deschamps believes Kylian Mbappe is set for another memorable World Cup after he claimed a goal and an assist in France's 4-1 win over Australia, declaring: "It's his competition".

Mbappe became just the second teenager – after Pele in 1958 – to score in a World Cup final as France downed Croatia to win the tournament in Russia four years ago, and he made a strong start to this year's competition as Les Bleus claimed a comeback win.

Craig Goodwin handed Australia a surprise lead in Tuesday's Group D clash, but Mbappe built on first-half strikes from Adrien Rabiot and Olivier Giroud as France got off to a winning start.

At 23 years and 337 days old, Mbappe is now the youngest player to have scored five World Cup goals for France, and Deschamps expects him to go from strength to strength in Qatar. 

"Kylian has been one of the best players in the world for some time now, and he's feeling very confident," Deschamps said. "You can see that in the way he plays. He is calm and concentrated. 

"He has been in good form for quite some time. I knew he was going to be ready for this World Cup, it's his competition and he knows how to make the difference.

"He's always been able to play as part of a team, so that's great for us, and I've got a lot of attackers, but Kylian is, of course, an outstanding one."

France's victory ensured they became the first World Cup holders to make a winning start at the tournament since Brazil did so in 2006, while their current five-match winning run at the finals is their joint-longest such streak (also five across the 1986 and 1998 editions).

However, France's win was tarnished as they received yet another injury blow, with Bayern Munich's Lucas Hernandez limping out of the game in the aftermath of Australia's early goal.

Deschamps fears the defender may have sustained a serious injury, which could open the door for his brother Theo Hernandez to start Saturday's fixture against Denmark.

"With Lucas Hernandez, we're still waiting for the results of the tests, but I'm afraid it could be pretty serious," Deschamps said.

"It's true that Lucas' injury was a tough blow. I'll have to think about his replacement.

"You can't have three players for every position in your squad, but there is obviously Theo Hernandez and other alternatives."

Olivier Giroud equalled Thierry Henry's France goalscoring record as Les Bleus fought back to begin their World Cup defence with a 4-1 victory over Australia on Tuesday.

Having lost Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and others to injury during a chaotic build-up to the tournament, France suffered another blow when Craig Goodwin fired Australia into an early lead.

But the holders responded well, with the impressive Adrien Rabiot recording a goal and an assist – the latter for Giroud – during a first-half turnaround.  

Kylian Mbappe then made the points safe with a fine glancing header before teeing up Giroud to nod home his landmark 51st goal as France took control of Group D.

Goodwin side-footed Mathew Leckie's cross into the roof of the net after nine minutes in a dream start for Australia but a quickfire France double turned the game around.

Rabiot contributed to both goals, nodding home Theo Hernandez's deep cross after 27 minutes before his cut-back allowed Giroud to tap in.

The end of an entertaining first half featured clear chances at both ends, with Mbappe firing over from close range before Jackson Irvine headed against the post.

Giroud went close to a spectacular second when he sent an acrobatic effort wide shortly after the break, while Antoine Griezmann saw a shot cleared off the goalline as France continued to press.

France finally had a deserved third goal after 68 minutes, with Mbappe diverting Ousmane Dembele's cross in off the post to clinch the win.

Mbappe sent in a fine cross for France's fourth just three minutes later, but the moment belonged to Giroud as he powered a header beyond Mathew Ryan to earn a slice of Les Bleus history.

What does it mean? Champions make strong start

France approached Tuesday's match looking to buck the recent trend of slow starts from World Cup holders – the reigning champions had only started with a win at three of the last 12 tournaments (D4 L5).

Given their chaotic preparations and Australia's early opener, Didier Deschamps may have been fearing the worst, but Les Bleus were ultimately good value for their win, which saw them take control of Group D following Denmark's draw with Tunisia.

Giroud matches Henry

Had Real Madrid's Ballon d'Or-winning forward Benzema been fit to feature against the Socceroos, Giroud would likely have been the player to miss out on a place in Deschamps' team.

However, Giroud – who played a key role in France's 2018 heroics in Russia – helped himself to a brace to draw level with Henry's tally of 51 goals for his country, hitting that number in eight fewer caps than the Arsenal great.

Rabiot takes centre stage

Injuries to Pogba and his 2018 World Cup-winning midfield partner N'Golo Kante opened the door for Rabiot to assume a central role in Qatar, and he did not let France down in their Group D opener.

Rabiot took the game by the scruff of the neck before the break, becoming the first France player to both score and assist a goal on his World Cup debut since Christophe Dugarry against South Africa in 1998

What's next?

France take on Denmark in their next Group D game on Saturday, while Australia face Tunisia on the same day.

France saw their injury crisis deepen as Bayern Munich defender Lucas Hernandez was forced off early on in Tuesday's World Cup meeting with Australia.

Didier Deschamps' side arrived in Qatar looking to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962, but their preparations for the tournament were hampered by fitness issues.

Having already lost 2018's World Cup-winning midfield duo Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante before naming their 26-man squad for the competition, France have seen their rotten luck continue.

Paris Saint-Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe was forced to withdraw from their squad after failing to recover from a hamstring injury, while RB Leipzig's in-form attacker Christopher Nkunku was ruled out of the tournament after he tore the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee.

The biggest blow was still to come for Les Bleus, as Ballon d'Or winning striker Karim Benzema – who was also absent from their triumphant 2018 campaign – was forced to leave their camp after sustaining a thigh injury in training.

Hernandez became the latest France international to be stricken nine minutes into their Group D clash with Australia, going down clutching his knee after being turned by Matthew Leckie in the build-up to Craig Goodwin's opening goal.

Having limped off the pitch to be replaced by his brother Theo Hernandez, the Bayern defender may now face a battle to be fit for France's fixtures against Tunisia and Denmark.

David Warner believes he can stake a claim to play in Australia's next home ODI – even if that means he must wait until 2024.

The opener struck a terrific 106 in Australia's thumping win over England on Tuesday that sealed a 3-0 ODI series victory.

He joined Travis Head (156) in an opening partnership worth 269 runs, which set a record for the first wicket at the MCG.

Australia prevailed by 221 runs under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern rules at the Melbourne venue where nine days previously England celebrated winning the T20 World Cup. It was England's heaviest ODI defeat, runs-wise.

The latest century for left-hander Warner was his fifth against England and a first since the Boxing Day Test in 2017, taking him to 3,067 runs across all formats against Australia's great rivals.

That is the most runs he has scored against any opposition, albeit he has faced England 69 times and no other team on more than 50 occasions.

Indeed, Warner's all-formats batting average of 34.46 against England is the lowest he has achieved against any international team he has faced more than twice.

He was rightly jubilant to get to three figures this time, though, saying: "I think we played fantastic in this series.

"We know that with England [winning] the World Cup, and a long tournament, these games are quite hard to get up for.

"But we played exceptional cricket, the bowlers did a fantastic job and the batters just went out there and tried to execute as well as we could, especially in the power play, and we managed to do that."

Addressing a long wait for the next ODI to be played at home, which is set to come when West Indies tour in early 2024, Warner said: "Look, 2024 is a long time away. There's a lot of cricket to be played in-between there, obviously in all three formats.

"If I can keep keeping fit, scoring runs and doing the best I can for the team, yeah, I might be here."

Warner will turn 38 in October 2024 and has indicated he could retire from Tests after next year's Ashes series in England, but he evidently sees the short format as an area where he might sustain his career for longer.

England captain Jos Buttler is thriving as a limited-overs specialist, even if his team came a cropper during this series.

"We tried our best. We fell a long way short. I thought Australia outplayed us in every department and all credit to them," Buttler said.

Yet he and England will return home as world champions in cricket's shortest international format.

"We've got lots to be proud of," Buttler said. "You don't need a long memory to remember the scenes here last week. We got exactly what we wanted from coming here and we're very proud of that."

Travis Head and David Warner plundered stunning centuries as Australia crushed England by 221 runs at the MCG to seal a 3-0 ODI series sweep.

The openers forged an alliance of 269 runs as Australia posted 355-5 in a rain-interrupted match in Melbourne, with England only able to muster 142 all out in reply, suffering a third emphatic defeat.

Australia's innings was trimmed to 48 overs, which meant under the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern calculations England's target was set at 364 for victory, which they got nowhere near. Nine days after winning the T20 World Cup on the same ground, England's response to Australia's total was largely listless.

Head made an ODI career-best 152, while Warner was out for 106, his 19th century in this format. They put on the ninth-highest first-wicket stand in ODI history, second only for Australia to the 284 that Head and Warner themselves amassed in January 2017 against Pakistan.

It was their second 200-plus partnership, and only Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga, who have managed three, have achieved more as a pairing in ODIs.

Olly Stone eventually removed both openers in the same over, the 39th of Australia's innings, on the way to bowling figures of 4-85 from 10 overs.

England's opening partnership, in stark contrast, was worth only 15 runs, with Dawid Malan falling for just two to Josh Hazlewood in the third over. Jason Roy top scored with 33, as Adam Zampa took 4-31 in the rout.

Warner beats Hayden record

Warner now has 6,007 runs from 139 ODI innings, becoming the 10th Australian batter to reach 6,000 runs in the format. He has reached the milestone in the fewest innings of all Australians, beating Matthew Hayden's previous record of 154 innings.

Head rush

Head's 152 goes down as the second-highest score by an Australian player in the history of men's ODIs against England, bettered only by Shane Watson's unbeaten 161 in January 2011. The thrashing gave Australia's men just their second whitewash of England in a multi-game bilateral ODI series, 29 years after the first, also a 3-0 victory.

France were many people's tip heading into Qatar 2022, having been so impressive when they lifted the World Cup four years ago.

On paper, they have the sort of team that would have most players of the FIFA 23 video game drooling, or at least, they did before injuries started to pile up.

Midfield pair Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante, both so crucial to their 2018 success, had already been ruled out, and in the days since head coach Didier Deschamps announced his squad, two more high-profile names have been forced to withdraw.

The loss of Christopher Nkunku was a blow despite the RB Leipzig forward being unlikely to start, his 48 goal involvements (37 goals and 11 assists) in 2022 only second to France team-mate Kylian Mbappe (57 - 43 goals and 14 assists) among players from Europe's top five leagues.

Then there was Karim Benzema's withdrawal, a significant one considering the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner scored a spectacular 44 goals in 46 games for Real Madrid in 2021-22, helping the Spanish giants win LaLiga and the Champions League.

However, if any nation can handle a double blow like that, it is surely France.

When it comes to the team selection in their opening clash with Australia, Deschamps will likely turn to the same trio he used at Russia 2018, with Mbappe alongside one or both of Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.

Giroud has extra motivation, sitting just two behind Thierry Henry (51) as Les Bleus' all-time record goalscorer.

"Obviously I've got this target, this kind of bonus in my head to beat [Henry], but the main target as a team is to go as far as we can in the competition," the Milan striker said at a press conference on Friday.

France will need to improve on recent form though, having only won one of their six games in the UEFA Nations League in June and September (D2, L3).

Their first hurdle is an Australia team that only made it to Qatar by the skin of their teeth, needing a dramatic penalty shoot-out win against Peru in a play-off to advance.

Dancing substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne was the hero that day, but head coach Graham Arnold will need inspiration from elsewhere if the Socceroos are to improve on their World Cup record.

They have been eliminated from the group stage in four of their five previous appearances, progressing only in 2006, when Arnold was assistant to Guus Hiddink.

Australia have won just 13 per cent of their matches at the World Cup (two of 16); only Bulgaria (12 per cent - three of 26) have a lower win rate among nations to play 10 or more games at the finals.

They have also suffered an injury blow of their own, with Martin Boyle pulling out after failing to recover from a knee problem. Melbourne City winger Marco Tilio has replaced him, and Arnold is backing the 21-year-old to step up.

"Marco has done everything that has been asked of him to be ready for this tournament," Arnold said. "He was an important member of our Tokyo 2020 Olympic team, he has started the A-League men's season well and he is familiar with the national team set-up and we are looking forward to what he can bring to our squad for the tournament."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

France - Kylian Mbappe

Losing players like Nkunku and Benzema is never a good thing, but the blow is softened when you can still turn to arguably the most electric attacker in world football.

Mbappe played a key role in France's World Cup success of 2018, scoring four goals in seven games in Russia. During the tournament, the young French star not only became his country's youngest ever goalscorer at a World Cup (19y 183d), but also, only the second teenager ever to score in a World Cup final after Brazilian icon Pele did so v Sweden in 1958.

He has also been near unstoppable for Paris Saint-Germain this season, with 19 goals in 20 games for the Ligue 1 giants.

Australia - Mat Ryan

Not just because Australia are likely to face a lot of shots against the world champions, but Ryan also brings experience that this side sorely need.

The former Valencia and Arsenal goalkeeper has not featured much for Copenhagen this season, with Kamil Grabara preferred, but he played all 11 of Australia's third and fourth-round matches in AFC qualifying for the World Cup.

Ryan is also set to appear in a third World Cup for Australia, the most of any goalkeeper for the nation. Should he feature in all three group games, he will move level with Mark Bresciano and Tim Cahill on nine World Cup appearances, the most for the Socceroos.

PREDICTION

Unsurprisingly, France are relatively overwhelming favourites to start with a win.

According to Stats Perform's AI model, Les Bleus have a 73.4 per cent chance of taking all three points, with Australia given just a 10.6 per cent chance.

The draw comes in at 16 per cent, which cannot be discounted given France's injuries and questionable form heading into Qatar.

Graham Arnold has refused to mention the names of France's star players, including Kylian Mbappe, ahead of Australia's clash against the World Cup holders.

The Socceroos meet Les Bleus for the second successive finals, with Paul Pogba's deflected late strike sealing a narrow 2-1 win for Didier Deschamps' side in Russia four years ago.

Australia head into their Group D opener having failed to register a clean sheet in 10 previous World Cup matches against European nations, with their only clean sheet at the finals against any opposition coming in a goalless draw against Chile in 1974.

But Arnold, who was the Socceroos' assistant to Pim Verbeek at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, has tried to ease the pressure on his players.

"It's not being disrespectful at all, but I've hardly mentioned the word France," he said. "And I've hardly mentioned any of the players' names because the players know who they are,

"It's one against one, it's 10 blue shirts against 10 yellow shirts, and it's a fight. That's what it is."

Mat Ryan, who is set to become the first Australia goalkeeper to appear at three World Cups, was between the sticks for that 2-1 defeat in 2018.

But despite the reverse, the Socceroos captain believes the experience will serve his side well four years later.

"[We] felt like we almost got a great result there against France, and we felt were quite unlucky," he reflected.

"Something that I learned that day, you've got to have the right amount of respect for the opposition, but don't be in awe of them or be overwhelmed too much.

"We're playing some very good players in a good team, but we're all human out there, and we've got a real good chance to win."

“A nice and competitive game,” is what West Indies Test Captain Kraigg Brathwaite expects when his team continues their preparation for their two-match series against Australia by taking on an Australian Prime Minister’s XI in a four-day game warm-up fixture beginning on Tuesday in Canberra.

The Windies already have one warm-up fixture under their belt, a high-scoring three-day match against a combined NSW/ACT XI which ended in a draw on Saturday.

That game saw the Windies get scores of 424-9 declared and 114-4 while their opponents got 426-4 declared.

“Everyone is feeling good. We had a nice, competitive three-day game. The pitch was more batting friendly but I think our bowlers got a good run out as well.”

Australia’s PM’s XI will feature players with a lot of international experience and Brathwaite says this will give his side a big test ahead of the series.

“This second game is obviously a different team; a much more competitive team so we look forward to that challenge,” he said while also noting how important it will be to get used to the pink ball ahead of the first test.

“Gearing towards the first test, it will be good to get used to the pink ball and the conditions here in Australia. It will react differently off the surface, especially when the lights turn on. It tends to do a lot more at night so that is something we have to keep on our minds,” Brathwaite added.

The match gets underway on Tuesday at 10:00pm Jamaica time (11:00pm ECT).