Eugenie Le Sommer and Wendie Renard scored to give France a 2-1 win over Brazil and control of Group F on Saturday in FIFA Women’s World Cup play in Brisbane, Australia.
France (1-0-1) moved to 12-0 all-time against Brazil (1-1-0).
Le Sommer scored 17 minutes into the match to give France a 1-0 lead with her French record 90th goal in international play.
Debinha tied the match in the 58th minute for Brazil, but Renard’s header slipped past Leticia in the 83rd minute and proved to be the difference for Brazil.
“We had the courage to react after conceding,” France coach Herve Renard said. “We found that second goal and showed a lot of courage and self-sacrifice. Sometimes in a competition there are benchmark matches. This must be one of them because we beat a very good Brazil team.”
France concludes group play on Wednesday against winless Panama and will need one point to guarantee an advance to the knockout round. Brazil will take on Jamaica.
Jamaica 1, Panama 0
Jamaica scored its first-ever win in Women’s World Cup play and eliminated Panama at Perth, Australia.
Panama (0-2-0) was making its maiden appearance in the tournament.
Allyson Swaby led Jamaica to the win with her header in the 55th minute off a Trudi Carter corner.
The Jamaica (1-0-1) win put the team in second place in Group F, with their match against Brazil on Wednesday a winner-take-all proposition. The winning team will advance to the knockout round.
Jamaica, ranked 43rd in the world, also can advance over eighth-ranked Brazil with a draw.
Sweden 5, Italy 0
Sweden scored three goals in the first half to topple Italy to clinch its appearance in the Round of 16 in a Group G match in Wellington, New Zealand.
Sweden (2-0-0) got goals from Amanda Ilestedt in the 39th minute. Fridolina Rolfo made the score 2-0 in the 44th minute, and in the first minute of first-half stoppage, Stina Blackstenius added a goal.
Ilestedt scored again in the second half for her third goal of the tournament. Rebecka Blomqvist added the final score for the Swedes.
Italy (1-1-0) stands in second place in Group G and meets South Africa (0-1-1) on Wednesday to conclude group play. Anything but a loss sends the Italians to the knockout round.
Sweden will face Argentina (0-1-1).
–Field Level Media
