Lebanon beat France 24-20 in a golden point thriller at CommBank Stadium in Sydney on Sunday, with Abbas Miski scoring the winning try in the 85th minute of a match that delivered one of the games of the Rugby League World Cup.

France looked to have won it late on. Arthur Mourgue sent the match into extra time with a two-point field goal from 40 metres on the full-time buzzer to level the scores at 20-20, and France then thought they had won it with a field goal, only for the scoreboard to go back to 20-20 when Thomas Lacans was penalised for obstruction.

Mourgue goes from hero to heartbreak

The decisive moment came from a French error. After Alex Conti missed a penalty goal attempt from 48 metres at the end of the first golden point period, Mourgue fielded the ball deep in his own end and, instead of taking the tackle to force a second period of extra time, attempted an audacious kick that was plucked out of the air by Miski, who raced 15 metres to score.

Conti was named player of the match, finishing with two try assists, three tackle breaks, two penalty goals and 114 run metres, as well as scoring Lebanon's opening try after just four minutes. Tony Francis also crossed for Lebanon, while Cesar Rouge scored for France in the 71st minute to lock the scores at 18-18 before Conti's late penalty goal made it 20-18.

A dead rubber that delivered everything

The match may have been a dead rubber in terms of tournament progression, but neither side played it that way. Lebanon opened the scoring from their first attacking opportunity, France refused to go away, and the finish had everything: a buzzer-beating field goal, a disallowed winner, a missed penalty and a golden point try from a kicked ball. Miski said afterwards he could hardly believe how the ending had unfolded.