France and Colombia advanced to the last eight at the women's World cup on Tuesday following victories over Morocco and Jamaica respectively. Colombia's passage was a hard fought 1-0 win at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium while veteran striker Eugénie Le Sommer bagged a brace as France cruised past the Moroccans 4-0 at the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide.
Seeking a place in the last-eight for the fourth tournament on the trot, France started vibrantly against a team listed 67 places beneath them in world rankings.
And the first goal arrived with textbook simplicity after 15 minutes. Sakina Karchaoui – born to Moroccan parents in France – surged down the left wing to the byline and lofted a pass between three defenders for Kadidiatou Diani to nod nonchalantly into the net past the Morocco goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi for her fourth goal of the tournament.
Five minutes later, Diani turned provider when she cut the ball back from the right to the edge of the box for Kenza Dali to steer past Er-Rmichi.
Cruise
Morocco – runners-up at last year's Africa Cup of Nations – were three down after 23 minutes. Morocco defender Nesryne El Chad tried to shepherd the ball out for a goal-kick but under pressure from Diani changed her mind and tried to loft the the ball out for a throw-in.
But her kick hit Diani and ricocheted Le Sommer prowling on the edge of the area and she thrashed a first-time shot across Er-Rmichi and into the net for her 91st international goal
The 34-year-old striker nodded in the fourth – number 92 – at the back post on 70 minutes to add the gloss and justify the decision of France boss Hervé Renard to recall her to the national squad after she was excluded by the former coach Corinne Diacre.
"We're into the quarter-finals which is the most important thing," Le Sommer told French broadcaster M6.
"We didn't want to take Morocco lightly because they're a side that came out of a group containing Germany and so we started seriously and it went from there."
Even before Le Sommer had added the fourth, there was an air of game management about the affair for the French and damage limitation for the Moroccans who can draw pride from a taste of the knockout stages at their first World Cup. France will play hosts Australia on Saturday in Brisbane.
"We've got to get ready for a game against a team playing in front of their fans," Renard told M6. "We possess the players who can make the difference but so do they. It will be a tough game for both teams."
Progress
Colombia moved into the last eight for the first time following their success at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
Skipper Catalina Usme made the breakthrough seven minutes into the second-half. She brought down Ana Guzman's deep cross from the left on her right foot, stepped inside the defender Deneisha Blackwood and steered the ball with her left foot high into the right hand corner of Rebecca Spencer's goal.
Captain Fantastic! 🇨🇴@CataUsme gives @FCFSeleccionCol the lead! 💪#BeyondGreatness | #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/yttWjSpbcd
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 8, 2023
Jamaica, who had only scored one goal en route to the last-16, nearly levelled soon afterwards but Jody Brown's header hit the post and seven minutes from time Drew Spence saw her header flash past the right hand post of Colombia goalkeeper Catalina Perez.
Despite the defeat, the Jamaica striker Khadija Shaw said she and her teammates were proud of the performances that led them to the knockout stages of the competition for the first time.
"If you believe and you work hard anything’s possible," said the 26-year-old. "We came out and we held our own. At the end of the day we knew it was going to be hard but we did what we could."
Colombia will play the European champions England at Stadium Australia in Sydney for a place in the semi-finals.
