France, Colombia advance to Women's World Cup quarterfinals

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Midfielder Eugenie Le Sommer scored twice to lead France to a blowout of Morocco, while Colombia edged Jamaica 1-0, clinching the final two spots in the 2023 Women's World Cup quarterfinals.

No. 25 Colombia will meet No. 4 England in the quarterfinals Saturday in Sydney. No. 5 France will face host country Australia (No. 10) on Saturday in Brisbane to determine another semifinalist.

"Yes, it is a certain pressure [to play host country Australia], but it must also be taken as a positive pressure," Le Sommer said on the Fox broadcast. "It's always better to have the audience with you than against you.

"For them, it's a pressure, but at the same time, a whole country [is] behind them. It will be a challenge for us."

Striker Catalina Usme scored in the 51st minute for the lone goal of Colombia's Round of 16 triumph over Jamaica in Tuesday's opener in Melbourne.

Colombia outshot No. 43 Jamaica 9-6, but placed just two attempts on target. The foes played a scoreless first half before Usme broke the deadlock

Defender Ana Guzman received a pass near the left sideline, deep in Jamaica territory, to spark that score. She then dribbled right and lofted a long cross over the head of Jamaica left back Deneisha Blackwood.

The ball fell perfectly onto the left boot of Usme, who tapped it down and fired a shot inside the left post.

Colombia nearly scored again in the 55th minute, but that breakaway opportunity was mishandled in the box by forward Linda Caicedo.

Jamaica's Drew Spence missed an equalizer in the 82nd minute, when she headed an attempt wide of the left post.

Colombia's Leicy Santos headed another shot off Jamaica's right post in the 86th minute for the final close attempt of the match.

Later Tuesday, France demolished No. 72 Morocco 4-0, led by Le Sommer's two scores in Adelaide. France controlled 59% of the possession and outshot Morocco 15-1 in the dominant victory.

Le Sommer scored in the 23rd and 70th minutes of the shutout. Striker Kadidiatou Diani opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Midfielder Kenza Dali gave France a 2-0 lead in the 20th minute.

Diani assisted two French scores. Midfielder Vicki Becho and left back Sakina Karchaoui also logged assists.

Colombia will appear in the quarterfinals for the first time in Women's World Cup history.

"This moment is unique in the history of Colombian women's soccer, for South America," Colombia manager Nelson Abadia said. "It is a triumph of a group that has made an effort to have consistency, character, personality. It was played and won well."

No. 6 Spain will play No. 9 Netherlands in the first quarterfinal game at 9 p.m. EDT Thursday in Wellington, New Zealand.