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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Jonathan Howcroft

Matildas 1-0 France: Australia win Women’s World Cup warm-up – as it happened

The Matildas celebrate after Mary Fowler scores for Australia during the final pre-Women’s World Cup game against France at Marvel Stadium Melbourne.
The Matildas celebrate after Mary Fowler scores for Australia during the final pre-Women’s World Cup game against France at Marvel Stadium Melbourne. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Summary

Thank you for joining me tonight on an historic occasion for Australia. Over 50,000 fans packed Marvel stadium for a match that ended with victory over the fifth-ranked side in the world. These set-piece World Cup send-offs risk hubris, but tonight served only to increase the hype around the tournament and the potential for the Matildas to go far in it.

All of that kicks off on Thursday with New Zealand hosting Norway in Auckland, followed by Australia welcoming Ireland to Sydney. We’ll be right here to cover all the action.

I’ll leave you with Kieran Pender’s match report from Melbourne. Stay tuned for stacks more World Cup content over the coming days as we count down to the biggest sporting event of the year. Goodnight!

For Hervé Renard, other than the injury to Bacha, there seems no reason to dwell on the defeat. His side controlled possession for long periods and didn’t want for commitment. However, the lack of a skilful #10 in the final third could become a concern at the World Cup if they fail to unpick defences through their slick ball movement.

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