France hope to end their Olympic group stage campaign with a win as they face New Zealand in Lyon on Wednesday.
The hosts thought they were heading for an undefeated opening two games when they were level 1-1 with Canada in the 10th minute of stoppage time but a late winner by the 2020 gold medallists left the French 2nd in their group table behind Colombia.
New Zealand haven’t won a game at the Paris Olympics, scoring just one goal in their opening game against Canada (a 2-1 loss), before conceding two goals to Colombia on Sunday.
The Ferns will once again be without Utah Royals midfielder Macey Fraser when they face France, after she exited the field injured against Canada on her Olympic debut.
She is the second player New Zealand have lost to injury this tournament; the other being captain Ali Riley, who pulled out of the squad before their opening game.
France were made to work in their opening game against Colombia – the visitors coming back from 3-0 down to cause a nervy 3-2 finish – and will be disappointed by their late loss to Canada, but are still in a good position to progress through to the knockout stages; a draw against New Zealand ensuring they made it through as one of the top two teams in their group.
Should New Zealand beat France, and Colombia beat Canada; the Ferns could have a small chance of making it through as one of the better placed 3rd teams across the groups – though the victory would have to be significant to place their goal difference high enough above the Canadians.
New Zealand v France kicks off at 8pm (BST) on Wednesday 31 July.
The women’s football quarter-finals take place on Saturday 3 August, kicking off throughout the afternoon.
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