Paul Pogba sent a beautiful pass through to forward Antoine Griezmann, who looked to make a clear run on goal. Josh Risdon of the Socceroos, however brought the Frenchman down with a tackle in the area.
The referee had waved on play, but was urged to seek clarification from VAR over Risdon's tackle. It marks the first time that VAR has been used in the World Cup, and was done so with minimal fuss.
Replay showed that Risdon earned nothing from the challenge, awarding France the penalty, and the Australian defender picked up a yellow card for his efforts.
Griezmann stepped up to take the penalty, and blasted the ball to the left of goalkeeper, Mathew Ryan, giving France a valuable lead, but it was not to last for long. Just minutes later, Australia equalised with their own penalty goal.
Aaron Mooy sent a free-kick flying into France's area, and in an attempt to clear with a header, Samuel Umtiti bizarrely raised his arm to make contact with the ball. Mile Jedinek, Australia's resident penalty taker, outfoxed Hugo Lloris to even the score for the Socceroos.