FIFA Women's World Cup: France ease past Morocco to set up Australia clash in QF
Eugenie Le Sommer scored twice as France eased to a 4-0 win over Morocco at the Women's World Cup on Tuesday and set up a quarter-final with co-hosts Australia.
Morocco had upset the odds to qualify for the last 16 at the expense of Germany in their debut appearance at the tournament but they never managed to lay a glove on Herve Renard's French side in Adelaide.
Kadidiatou Diani opened the scoring on the quarter-hour mark and it was 3-0 just after the midway point in the first half as Kenza Dali and Le Sommer added further goals.
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Veteran striker Le Sommer, who is France's all-time top scorer, netted again 20 minutes from time before a crowd of 13,557 as Les Bleues advanced to the last eight with a minimum of fuss.
They will now play Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, with the winners of that going on to play either England or Colombia in the semi-finals.
«We fulfilled our objective. You always want a little bit more, but it's fine,» Renard told broadcaster M6.
France were knocked out in the quarter-finals as hosts in 2019, losing to eventual winners the United States.
A win against Australia will see them equal their best-ever performance at the World Cup, when they got to the last four in 2011.
«We have matched our performance of four years ago, but our objective was to do better than we did in 2011, so we know what we have left to do.»
Asked if his side could beat the Matildas in front of a hostile crowd, he said: «We are capable of doing it but it won't be easy, albeit not easy for either team.»
While France are desperate to win a first major women's international title, Morocco came into this game with the pressure off, their World Cup already a huge success.
Morocco coach Reynald Pedros said he was proud of his
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