Jo was a surprise choice by coach Shin between the posts as the Daegu FC custodian picked up just his sixth cap for his national team ahead of more experienced duo Kim Seung-gyu and Kim Jin-hyeon.

Despite his relative inexperience, though, the 26-year-old shone in goal and made a string of saves that kept the Koreans in the game throughout the 90 minutes and he was only beaten by Andreas Granqvist’s 65th minute penalty.

Veteran Swedish skipper Granqvist scored the only goal of the game from the spot after Viktor Claesson was upended by Korea Republic substitute Kim Min-woo Kim in the 62nd minute.

Despite passionate appeals, El Salvadorean referee Joel Aguilar initially waved away Swedish penalty claims.

But after consulting the video, he pointed to the spot.

It was the third VAR penalty awarded in Russia 2018 after France and Peru also benefited from video referrals.

On June 24, 2014, Los Cafeteros came out firing on all cylinders to claim an impressive 4-1 victory over the Japanese in Brazil. The two teams will now meet again in Group H action at Russia 2018. 

Despite only making their first appearance at the World Cup in 1998, Japan have firmly established themselves as a fixture on the global stage.

Nishino was appointed as Vahid Halilhodzic’s replacement just two months before the tournament started following the former Algeria coach’s removal from the post by the Japan Football Association.

It was a contentious decision, but Troussier is convinced the hiring of Nishino can restore confidence and instill a greater Japanese identity within the squad as the nation prepares to make a sixth straight appearance at the Finals.

Jedinak, who scored Australia’s goal from the penalty spot, was picked in midfield alongside Aaron Mooy and the duo produced a stellar defensive display together with the centre-back pairing of Trent Sainsbury and Mark Milligan.

But despite limiting France’s chances and frustrating one of the favourites for the title in Russia 2018, Australia fell to an 81st minute Paul Pogba effort which deflected off  Aziz Behich into the goalmouth.

Jedinak, who had come off a gruelling club season with Aston Villa who he so nearly helped win promotion to the English Premier League, reiterated the message he shared with teammates during a post-game huddle on the pitch.

IR Iran lead the group after Matchday One, which saw the Central Asians scoring a heart-stopping 1-0 win over Morocco while Spain and Portugal played to a thrilling 3-3 draw in the other match.

Up next for IR Iran are 2010 world champions Spain, who must be hurting after Cristiano Ronaldo's late free-kick not only gave him a hat-trick but salvaged a point for Portugal.

The Socceroos matched the highly-fancied French for long periods in Kazan but went down 2-1 to an Antoine Griezmann penalty and an 81st-minute deflected strike by Paul Pogba, either side of Mile Jedinak's goal.

“There’s still mixed emotions. We’re Obviously disappointed because I think we deserved more,” Behich said.

“The performance we put in was different class against a tough opponent. I thought we deserved more but there was a lot of positives to take from this game.

“We should be proud of what we put in. We’ve still got two games to build on this performance. Our focus has already switched to the next game.”

Juan Antonio Pizzi's side dominated possession and passed the ball accurately throughout the match but their lack of urgency meant they could not bring the ball into the final third and failed to record a single shot on target all night.

Defensively, the Green Falcons were far from their best as they allowed Russia to physically dominate and score at will despite not spending extended spells of time in the Saudi defensive third.