Kadidiatou Diani scored a hat-trick as France advanced to the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals with a 6-3 victory against Panama on Wednesday. Les Bleues finished first in Group F, ahead of Jamaica, who held Brazil to a goalless draw, depriving talismanic striker Marta of a fairytale World Cup ending.
With only a point needed to qualify, France coach Herve Renard shuffled the deck, making five changes from the team that battled past Brazil on Saturday.
He rested inspirational captain Wendie Renard, with Grace Geyoro assuming the armband. Veteran striker Eugenie Le Sommer also made way with Clara Mateo and Diani up front.
France were left trailing after just 67 seconds when Panama‘s Marta Cox swerved a freekick into the corner from 30 yards for her country’s first-ever World Cup goal.
At a sold-out Sydney Football Stadium, Cox twirled away in excitement and was embraced by teammates as tears flowed.
The euphoria, however, was short-lived as France ran rampant, with Diani scoring twice, one of which was a penalty, and Maelle Lakrar and Lea Le Garrec adding a goal each before halftime.
Diani, a Paris Saint-Germain striker, scored her third goal from the penalty spot shortly after the restart, but Panama refused to give up.
Yomira Pinzon added their second goal with a well-struck penalty, and Lineth Cedeno scored again in a dramatic finish, before Vicki Becho finished beautifully in injury time to seal the game for France.
The victory insured that France finished first in Group F, setting up a knockout round meeting with the second-placed team in Group H, most likely Germany.
Marta denied
In the second group encounter, Jamaica defeated Brazil 0-0 to advance to the round of 16 and condemn the South Americans to their earliest departure since 1995.
Marta, the great Brazilian forward, had stated that this would be her final World Cup at the age of 37.
Iconic. pic.twitter.com/kobcVaUOMM
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 2, 2023
But it was ecstasy for a Jamaican team that has yet to surrender in the competition and is in the knockout stages for the first time in its history.
The Brazilians had more of the possession and attempted more goals in front of a crowd of roughly 28,000 people – Jamaica had none on target whole game compared to Brazil’s five.
Despite this, and with Marta starting, Jamaica was never in significant jeopardy, defending deep and in numbers.
Their achievement, although losing all three games in their World Cup debut in 2019, is even the more impressive given the turmoil behind the scenes.
The players have been in open conflict with their football organization for a lack of support, including wage concerns and poor planning in the run-up to the World Cup.
Last week, defender Allyson Swaby stated that making an impression in the tournament would send a message to the country’s football officials that the women’s squad deserved better treatment.
