Giroud scores twice at World Cup to equal Henry's French record

AL WAKRAH, Qatar : Target man Olivier Giroud scored twice in France's World Cup opener against Australia on Tuesday for his 50th and 51st international goals to equal Thierry Henry's national record.

The 36-year-old put the holders ahead at 2-1 with a tap-in after 32 minutes and added his second in the 71st to make the score 4-1 with a header from a Kylian Mbappe cross.

Drafted into the team to play his 115th international after Karim Benzema was ruled out of the tournament by injury on Saturday, Giroud equalled the record set by Henry in his 123-match international career from 1997 to 2010.