Co-hosts of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 have advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating France on penalties.
FIFA ranked 10th, Australia defeated FIFA fifth-ranked France 7-6 on penalties after 120 minutes of stalemate to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament at Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, on Wednesday.
The Socceroos made history by reaching the semi-finals for the first time in their history at the tournament, having previously reached the quarter-finals three times in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
France, who finished fourth at the 2011 tournament and reached the quarter-finals in 2015 and 2019, suffered their third consecutive quarter-final exit.먹튀검증
Australia will face the winner of the England-Colombia match later in the day in the quarter-finals.
France’s Eugenie Le Sommer celebrates in disappointment.
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France pushed hard from the start against Australia, who had the one-sided support of the home crowd behind them.
In the opening 20 minutes, the French had three shots on target, while the Australians were unable to get a single shot on target.
France’s star, Éugenie Le Sommer, who was making her 21st appearance at the World Cup, was unlucky in the 28th minute when she drove the ball forward from midfield and her hard shot from the edge of the box was saved by the goalkeeper.
Australia took the lead in the 41st minute when Emily Van Egmond, who had the ball in possession, overlapped the goalkeeper near the right goal line and slotted an exquisite cut-back pass into the box, where Mary Fowler wasted no time in unleashing a right-footed shot into the empty net, only to be denied by the onrushing French defender Elisa de Almeida with a thigh-breaking save.
Both France and Australia had a number of chances to score the decisive goal, but both goalkeepers made brilliant saves to keep the first half scoreless.
Australia ‘captain’ Sam Kerr
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Australia’s biggest star, Sam Kerr, who hadn’t taken the field since the Round of 16 win over Denmark due to a calf injury, walked onto the field wearing the captain’s armband in the 10th minute of the second half to a roar from the nearly 50,000 fans who packed Brisbane Stadium.
Neither side could find the back of the net in the second half, sending the match into extra time.
Five minutes into the extra period, it looked like Australia had scored an own goal from a French corner on the right, but the goal had already been disallowed for a foul in a scuffle earlier in the match.
After 120 goalless minutes of extra time, the match went to penalty kicks.
France had Selma Bacha and Eve Perisse through the fifth spot-kick, while Australia had Stephanie Catley and Mackenzie Arnold both missed.
After a clean sweep through the eighth kick, both teams missed the ninth, making it 6-6.
France’s Vicky Bechot missed her tenth kick, while Australia’s Courtney Vine converted cleanly to send the Aussies into the last four.