France cruised into the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals with a 4-0 thrashing of Morocco and will take on hosts Australia next.
A dominant performance from Les Bleues in Adelaide completed the last eight line-up as Eugenie Le Sommer’s double either side of half-time added to early goals from Kadidiatou Diani and Kenza Dali.
France had the contest settled by the midway point of the first-half as they eased into a 3-0 lead and were able to lift their foot off the accelerator after the break.
They now travel to Brisbane to take on Australia on Saturday.
France’s blitz of the tournament debutants secured them a quarter-final place for the third consecutive World Cup as they proved a class above world No 72 Morocco, the lowest-ranked team to ever reach the last-16.
France’s Eugenie Le Sommer celebrates the second of her two goals in the win over Morocco
Kadidiatou Diani broke the deadlock with France’s opening goal 15 minutes into the contest
France celebrate after Kenza Dali scored their second goal to ensure total control
Le Sommer powers home her first and France’s third goal barely midway through the first-half
Herve Renard’s side sit 67 places above Morocco in the FIFA rankings and the gulf quickly showed.
On 15 minutes, Diani headed them in front following a neat cross from Sakina Karchaoui, her fourth goal of the competition.
A few minutes later, Diani turned provider, cutting the ball back for Aston Villa’s Dali to fire into the bottom corner.
And the contest was effectively wrapped up on 23 minutes when Morocco’s Nesryne El Chad slammed her attempted clearance against Diani and the ball dropped for Le Sommer to score.
Morocco, the first Arab nation to compete in the Women’s World Cup finals, had shocked many by finishing ahead of two-time winners Germany in their group, but this was a test too far.
They came closest when Ibtissam Jraidi broke clear on goal just after the restart but France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin raced out to gather.
The French team celebrate inside the dressing room after booking their last eight place
Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina is left in tears after Morocco’s World Cup adventure ended
In the closing stages, Lyon’s Le Sommer headed in Vicki Becho’s deep cross to make it 4-0.
France will be considered one of the tournament favourites from here, with fancied sides United States, Germany, Brazil and Canada all eliminated.
The first two quarter-finals – Spain against the Netherlands in Wellington and Japan vs Sweden in Auckland – will be played on Friday.
Saturday then sees Australia vs France in Brisbane and England vs Colombia in Sydney.
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