Colombia reached the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in the country’s history after a tense 1-0 victory over Jamaica in Melbourne, while France confidently knocked out Morocco to reach the last eight.
Catalina Usme brilliantly scored the winner for Colombia and, in the process, became the first player in this tournament to break Jamaica’s stubborn defense.
The Colombians’ reward is a last-eight tie against reigning European champion and ranked 4th in the world England in Sydney on Saturday, a match the South American team has the talent to win despite there being 21 places between the two sides in the world rankings.
France’s 4-0 victory over Morocco, a team that had reached the last 16 in its tournament debut, earns Les Bleues a last-eight tie against co-host Australia on Saturday.
This game was all but over inside the first 25 minutes. Goals from Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali and Eugénie Le Sommer gave Les Bleues a commanding first-half lead before Le Sommer scored her second with 20 minutes remaining.
But what a first Women’s World Cup this has been for Morocco, reaching the knockout stages on its tournament debut and defying its lowly ranking of No. 72 in the world.
It’s France, though, which will meet co-host Australia in the final eight. These are the quarterfinals scheduled for Friday and Saturday this week:
- Spain vs. Netherlands
- Japan vs. Sweden
- Australia vs. France
- England vs. Colombia
Source: CNN
