LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – France defeated Panama 6-3 to win first place in Group F and go to the Women’s World Cup’s round of 16. Kadidiatou Diani scored a hat-trick, including two penalties.
In spite of playing without captain Wendie Renard and all-time leading scorer Eugenie Le Sommer, France dominated after conceding in the second minute.
Lea Le Garrec and Vicki Becho each scored goals, and Deysire Salazar scored an own goal. France only needed a draw to advance to the next round.
With a magnificent 35-yard free-kick that curled into the top corner, Marta Cox created history by scoring Panama’s first-ever Women’s World Cup goal and the game’s quickest at one minute and seven seconds. Cox started crying before being surrounded by her teammates.
The amazing response from France was made possible by Panama’s Salazar, who accidentally put the ball in her own goal while attempting to block Maelle Lakrar’s header (21).
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Seven minutes later, Diani scored her first goal, scoring from the penalty spot (37) following a Wendy Natis handball. In the fifth minute of first-half overtime, Le Garrec added to the score and made it 4-1.
As a result of Natis touching the ball in the area once more on the other side of the interval, Diani was awarded a penalty to complete her hat trick.
Yomira Pinzon scored another goal for Panama in the 64th minute from the penalty spot as they trailed 5-1, much to the joy of the 40,498-strong audience at Sydney Football Stadium, which was mostly composed of neutral spectators.
After a video assistant referee (VAR) review for suspected offside, Lineth Cedeno scored a header to tie the score in the 87th minute, but France quickly answered via Becho to end the match.