France cruised into the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals
As France thrashed Morocco to end their dream run at the Women’s World Cup, Eugenie Le Sommer scored twice.
France led 3-0 at halftime with goals from Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali, and Le Sommer, with Le Sommer adding her second after 70 minutes.
The last eight will take place on Saturday in Brisbane between France and Australia.
At the Women’s World Cup, Morocco hoped to become the first African team to win a knockout match.
The superior quality of Herve Renard’s France was evident in the first half, with Dianni nodding them in front after a nice cross from Sakina Karchaoui as she scored her fourth goal of the season.
Aston Villa’s Dali struck a low shot into the corner in the 20th minute after Dianni cut the ball back to him.
Le Sommer added a third after Moroccan Nesryne El Chad slammed a clearance against Dianni less than a quarter of the way through the match.
As Morocco’s defense wore down, Le Sommer headed in Vicki Becho’s deep cross for a fourth goal.
The best result France has achieved at a World Cup final is fourth in 2011, and in each of the last four editions they have reached the last eight.
In the wake of the elimination of top-10 ranked teams the United States, Germany, Brazil and Canada, the French now fancy their chances of going all the way.
A shock second place in Group H was claimed by Morocco, the first Arab nation to compete at the finals after a 6-0 defeat against Germany in their opener.
It was a step too far to pull off a second upset against unbeaten France.
As the more experienced side scored its first three goals in eight first-half minutes, the team fell apart defensively.
Ibtissam Jraidi had Morocco’s best chance just after the restart, but France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin smothered her effort.