Goals from Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali and a brace from Eugénie Le Sommer rounded off a dominant performance in Adelaide. Meanwhile, Catalina Usme's goal gave Las Cafeteras their first-ever victory in the knockout stages of the Women's World Cup, beating Jamaica.
ADVERTISEMENTFrance has made it through to the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup after an emphatic 4-0 win over Morocco on Tuesday.
Only 23 minutes had been played at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium on Tuesday, but France was already 3-0 up and on course for a showdown with co-host Australia.
The French scored once more in the second half to win 4-0 and end Morocco’s historic debut run at the World Cup.
“The result speaks for itself,” coach Hervé Renard said. “We were able to score four times and now we’ve got a foot in the door for the quarter-finals. Things are getting a little bit heated. Only eight teams are left in the running. The objective now is to pull off the best performance that the French team has ever done.”
France took fourth place in 2011 and this is the fourth straight time they have advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
A three-goal burst in nine minutes took the game away from Morocco, with Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali and Eugenie Le Sommer all scoring early in the match.
Usme ends Jamaica's run as Colombia advance
In Tuesday's earlier outing, Colombia pushed their way into their first-ever Women's World Cup quarter-final thanks to a Catalina Usme goal Tuesday for a 1-0 win over Jamaica.
Both teams were aiming for a first victory in the knockout stage, with the winner moving on to a historic first trip to the last eight at the global tournament. But it was the South American side that prevailed.
Linda Caciedo didn’t score, but the 18-year-old Real Madrid star created opportunities and tested a Jamaica defence that didn't concede a goal in the group stage.
Colombia had more chances in the first half but Jamaica’s stout defence held and the match was scoreless at the break.
There was a scary moment when Jamaica's Trudi Carter was hit hard in the face by the ball in the 21st minute but she returned.
Jamaica goalkeeper Becky Spencer was able to punch away Usme's cross in the 29th. Caicedo sent the ball over the goal with a chance in the 38th.
Jamaica's Drew Spence was shown a yellow late in the half with a tackle on Caicedo after Chantelle Swaby was booked.
Spence nearly scored on a header in the 82nd but it went just wide. She raised her hands to her face in disbelief over the missed chance to even the game.
Colombia will face European champion England on Saturday at Stadium Australia in Sydney. England advanced on penalties after a scoreless draw with Nigeria on Monday night.
Usme rolled away in celebration after trapping a long pass from Ana Guzman and calmly finishing in the 52nd minute.
Las Cafeteras, making their third World Cup appearance, also reached the Round of 16 in 2015 but were stopped in a 2-0 defeat to the United States.
The Reggae Girlz had just one goal in the group stage, Allyson Swaby’s header in a 1-0 victory over Panama. They did however cause a historical upset by drawing with Brazil in their final group game.
ADVERTISEMENTAfter defeating South Korea in its World Cup opener, Colombia knocked out Germany 2-1 before falling to upstart Morocco in its group finale.