Bert van Marwijk's team are playing catch-up in Group C after defeat against France and a win for the Danes against Peru.

The 19-year-old Arzani made his World Cup debut on Saturday when he came off the bench late in the 2-1 loss to France in Kazan.

Australia's performance in that game helped change perceptions that the Socceroos are simply a physical side lacking technical talent and attacking ambition, said defender Trent Sainsbury.

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.

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.”

Antoine Griezmann scored from the first VAR-assisted penalty awarded in the history of the FIFA World Cup as title hopefuls France battled to a 2-1 win in Kazan.

Griezmann, expected to make a huge impact on Russia 2018 after topping the Euro 2016 scorers with six goals, was left frustrated by a solid Socceroos defensive display in a tight first half.

Since joining Marseille on a free transfer in 2016 Sakai has impressed coaches with his desire and drive to overcome a rocky start in Ligue 1 and become a firm favourite among the club's notoriously ruthless fans. 

Sakai's first few appearances for one of France's biggest and most passionately supported clubs were, in the words of former captain Jacky Bonnevay, "worrying". 

Sakai frequently gave the ball away, was reticent to get forward from his right-back position, and was caught out in defence.

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.

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.