LE HAVRE, France — As the score remained tied in extra time and the clock ticked toward a penalty-kick shootout, France’s stress kept increasing. Hosting the Women’s World Cup, Les Bleues are expected to win the title or at least come close.

“It’s not simple. We’re playing on our home turf,” Coach Corinne Diacre said through a translator. “There’s a constant reminder that we have this pressure to perform.”

France survived its first knockout match and advanced to the quarterfinals Sunday night when Amandine Henry redirected Amel Majri’s free kick for a tiebreaking goal in the 107th minute of a 2-1 victory against Brazil.

“I didn’t remember what happened,” Henry said through a translator. “I had my teammates jumping on top of me.”

The World Cup hosts, in the quarterfinals for the third straight time, will play the defending champion United States or Spain at Paris on Friday.

“France has everything that it takes to win,” Brazil Coach Vadao said through a translator. “France is absolutely prepared to win this World Cup.”

Advertisement

France joined England, Germany and Norway in a thus-far all-European quarterfinal field.

“We know that there will be pressure, we know that there will be this burden to bear,” Diacre said. “You have to understand that when you’re playing in front of such a huge crowd, even when you’re on your home turf, it’s not something that’s easy to get your head around. I think that we can be a little bit patient. I think we can allow our players to crumble under pressure, albeit for a couple of seconds.”

Valerie Gauvin, whose first-half goal was disallowed in a video review, put fourth-ranked France ahead in the 52nd minute before a crowd of 23,965 at Stade Oceane, but Thaisa tied the score 11 minutes later for No. 10 Brazil.

Henry scored on a left-footed shot from 7 yards, getting ahead of Monica for her 13th goal in 86 international appearances, her second goal of the tournament.

Brazil had a chance to go ahead near the end of the first extra-time period when Debinha broke in alone and beat goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi, but her shot headed toward goal was blocked in front of the line by defender Griedge Mbock Bathy.

“We weren’t at our best. … I didn’t recognize my team,” Diacre said. “There is something that is not jelling. Why? Because people are unfortunately not hitting their potential on an individual basis.”

Advertisement

This marked perhaps the final World Cup game for 33-year-old Brazilian star Marta, a six-time world player of the year who scored a record 17 goals in five tournaments. And it likely was the last game in the showcase for 41-year-old Formiga, who appeared in a record seven World Cups.

“It’s very unlikely that we will see another Marta,” Vadao said. “It’s unlikely that we still see another player like her for her talent, her professionalism, her character, everything.”

ENGLAND 3, CAMEROON 0: Steph Houghton scored on a rare indirect free kick at Valenciennes, France, to set England on its way to clinching a place in the  quarterfinals in a game punctuated by the anger of the African team over official review decisions.

At times during the incident-filled game, the Cameroon players looked like they might refuse to resume playing as they protested against decisions while referee Quin Liang struggled to maintain control.

Houghton scored the first goal after she was set up for an indirect free kick in the penalty area in the 14th minute.

Ellen White added to the lead in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time with a goal only awarded after an offside call was overruled on a video review.

The Cameroon players were seething again when they were denied a goal early in the second half when another offside review went against them.

England, which finished third in the 2015 tournament, pulled further ahead in the 58th minute when Alex Greenwood swept in from a corner.

England will play Norway in the quarterfinals Thursday in Le Havre, France.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.