Australia will meet France in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup after Les Bleues cruised past Morocco 4-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium.
France dominated from start to finish in the round-of-16 clash on Tuesday, scoring three times in eight minutes in a stunning first-half blitz.
Veteran striker Eugenie Le Sommer scored either side of half-time, while Kadidiatou Diani was also impressive, opening the scoring and supplying two assists.
The breakthrough came on the quarter hour with a slick team move started by Elisa De Almeida in defence.
The centre back charged forward and dished off to Sakina Karchaoui, who was released down the left wing after playing a one-two with Selma Bacha.
Karchaoui flew past her opponent before lifting a cross to the penalty spot where Diani was free to cushion a header into the net.
Five minutes later France had a second and this time Diani turned provider.
Wendie Renard launched a long ball out of defence which was expertly flicked on by Kenza Dali before Diani burst toward the byline and cut the ball back for Dali who slammed her first-time effort in off the post.
Morocco capitulated on 23 minutes when Le Sommer made it 3-0 following an error in defence from Nesryne El Chad.
The defender initially tried to shepherd the ball over the byline for a goal kick, before attempting a clearance which ricocheted off Diani’s legs.
The loose ball fell perfectly for Le Sommer who fired low and hard into the far bottom corner from eight metres.
Morocco had a half chance almost immediately after the restart when Anissa Lahmari pulled her shot from the edge of the area just wide after being picked out by Fatima Tagnaout.
France continued to threaten and looked likely to add to their tally, carving out a series of half chances before eventually scoring their fourth.
Karchaoiu recycled a clearance out of defence from Morocco in the 70th minute when she found substitute Vicki Becho, who danced her way past her defender and whipped in an inch-perfect cross to the back post where Le Sommer ghosted in and nodded the ball home from close range.
© AAP 2023
