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Australia off the mark, Tunisia facing WC exit

Australia registered their first win at the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Tunisia on Saturday afternoon.

One change for Tunisia from the opener against Denmark saw Naim Sliti in and Ben Slimane relegated to the bench, with Fran Karacic the only change for the Socceroos from their heavy defeat to France.

The Socceroos were ahead midway in the first half as a glancing header from Mitchell Duke on the near side of the area following a deflected ball from the left found the far corner of the net.

Graham Arnold's men became under pressure and needed stout defending from Harry Souttar amongst others before a first-time shot from close-range by Msakni narrowly missed the bottom-corner.

The Carthage Eagles pulled out a substitution before the start of the second half, as Ferjani Sassi entered for Mohamed Drager with the Socceroos unchanged.

Australia were under a bit of pressure soon at the resumption and a floating ball from a free-kick by Sliti brought a smart stop from goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.

With the Carthage Eagles in attack and in pursuit of the equaliser, a reinforcement up top from the substitute bench came in Wahbi Khazri ahead of Aissa Laidouni.

Australia started to drop deep later on and a low tap in the six-yard area from Khazri off a ball on the right of the area brought Ryan to a save.

The Socceroos fought hard to win every challenge off the North Africans as time ticked away and bagged their first victory of the tournament with the Carthage Eagles on the back-foot.

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