Co-hosts Australia beat France 7-6 after an endless penalty shoot-out involving as many as twenty shots. The 'Matildas' are among the four best teams in the world for the first time and will meet the winner of the duel between England and Colombia in the semifinals today (12:30 p.m.).
Neither of the two teams was able to move the initial 0-0, neither in regulation time nor in extra time. Hervé Renard changed his goalkeeper already thinking of an inevitable penalty shootout and brought on Durand for Peyraud-Magnin.
Australian goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold saved three eleven-metre shots to the French and missed one herself in a dramatic penalty shootout, with Cortnee Vine stepping up to convert the decisive penalty to send Australia through to the semi-finals.
After a total dominance by France at the start of the first half, the forces were equalized in the Brisbane Stadium (Australia), where the vast majority of the 49,461 spectators present dreamed of the qualification of the co-host team to the semifinals.
The 'Matildas' had the clearest chance of the first period with a shot by Mary Fowler (m.39) into an empty goal that Élisa de Almeida prevented by throwing herself with her entire body, who together with Wendie Renard, protected the French goal. France also had a chance with Eugénie Le Sommer and Kadidiatou Diani, but Australia came into the break feeling much better than their rivals.
The second half began with a siege by the Oceanic team, who brought on their star Sam Kerr in the 55th minute to find the goal he was missing, but, despite creating many chances, they were not successful in the definition and the game had to go to extra time.
But in extra time the Australians and French were unable to score any goals either and the game had to be decided in an epic penalty shootout.
The dream of France, which reached that round in the 2011 edition held in Germany, is frustrated. Four years ago, in which the galas were hosts, they also lost in the quarterfinals against the later champions, the United States (1-2), who came back from behind with two penalties converted by Megan Rapinoe.
The replacement on the French bench, with Hervé Renard at the helm, had returned the illusion to France, but he left empty-handed again. "You have to be proud of the girls tonight, they put on an exceptional game," said the coach after the match, highlighting the atmosphere in a packed Brisbane stadium. We had a whole stadium, a nation against us. We played an exceptional game. It's football, it's fate that chose it. Good luck to Australia. I think we deserved something better, but that's the way things are," he said resigned.
For Australia, the scorers were: Caitlin Foord, Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler, Katrina Gorry, Tameka Yallop, Ellie Carpenter and Cortnee Vine and even in the middle of the shootout, goalkeeper Arnold launched, but his shot went to the wood. Steph Catley and Clare Hunt also missed their penalty.
France's top scorers were Kadidiatou Diani, Wendie Renard, Eugénie Le Sommer, Grace Geyoro, Sakina Karchaoui and Maëlle Lakrar while Selma Bacha, Ève Périsset, Kenza Dali and Vicky Becho missed from eleven meters.
