Here’s tonight’s match report from Suzanne Wrack in Nice ...
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A controversial VAR penalty means France are on the brink of qualifying from Group A. They’ve got six points from their first two games and only need a point to be sure when they face Nigeria on Monday. Norway, who play South Korea in their final game, are level with Nigeria on three points. That’s all from me tonight. Thanks for reading and emailing. Bye.
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Full-time: France 2-1 Norway
That’s your lot!
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90 min+1: Boe Risa makes way for Maanum. There will be four added minutes.
90 min: “The penalty was not harsh,” Jan Schreuder says. “It was wrong. The Norwegian player hit the ball. The French player was late. That’s why she was hit. She should have stepped out. Mistakes can be made but this decision is ridiculous after watching the VAR. I have no skin in the game except that I’m in favor of the VAR and this makes it look ridiculous.”
88 min: Cascarino wriggles into the area from the right, but her cross eludes everyone.
85 min: Gauvin makes way for Cascarino.
82 min: Bilbaut replaces Thiney
80 min: There’s widespread agreement that the France penalty was very harsh. That’s probably correct, though I was convinced they were going to get it as soon as the referee went to check on the screen.
78 min: “After watching that VAR outcome I have vowed NEVER to watch another match,” Stephen Scriven says.
77 min: Utland replaces Saevik for Norway.
74 min: I doubt the former Wales assistant manager is enjoying his evening.
So far, it would have been better if the World Cup had been played behind closed curtains. The level of play is shocking. Like watching grass grow.
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) June 12, 2019
One of the reasons is that most teams are coached by clueless left overs from the men’s game rather than by the best female coaches. pic.twitter.com/oTMZP0dhUo
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GOAL! France 2-1 Norway (Le Sommer pen, 72 min)
After a long wait Le Sommer keeps her nerve and drills a low penalty into the right corner. Hjelmseth goes the right way but she’s beaten by the pace and accuracy.
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PENALTY TO FRANCE!
71 min: It was unintentional but Engen did catch Torrent and France are awarded a VAR penalty. Norway are fuming.
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70 min: It may well have been a foul by Engen, who caught Torrent on the thigh with a wild swing, though she did take the ball first.
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69 min: VAR! VAR! VAR! They’re checking for a penalty for France after a possible foul on Torrent. It might have been a foul by Engen.
68 min: There are a few whistles from the crowd. There’s annoyance at Norwegian timewasting. “In the Germany-Spain match earlier today, a Spanish player became mysteriously indecisive in her own six yard box, contributing to Germany’s winner,” Peter Oh says. “Now a French star has contrived another bizarre scene in the small area. It’s turning out to be Six Yard Box Twilight Zone day.”
66 min: Fight! Fight! Fight! “I wonder if Mr. Lilley actually read my comment?” Alan Kirkup says. “I was at Old Trafford when Denis Law scored for Man City (a nice backheel) to send United down. I suggest he searches for the video. Class has no gender.”
64 min: That own-goal’s taken the wind out of France’s sails. “To answer the question, how much is enough?” David Farrelly says. “Football could do with an injection of mathematics, in much the same way that the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method is used in ODI cricket. A simple gaussian (normal distribution) could be used whose peak is the current average number of goals scored (in, say, a league or competition) and whose width is defined using the standard deviation. Depending on where the current match is on the distribution the level of celebration could be labelled as “over the top”, “peak”, and “muted” with possible sub-categories.”
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61 min: Good of them to tag her in the tweet.
54', Goal for Norway (unfortunate own goal by @WRenard): it's 1-1. 🙁#FiersdetreBleues #FIFAWWC #FRANOR
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) June 12, 2019
58 min: Renard means “fox” in French. It was a real Francis Jeffers of a finish.
57 min: France break with Thiney leading the charge. Her pass is deflected into the path of Gauvin, who curls straight at Hjelmseth from 18 yards.
55 min: Le Sommer is booked.
This is an absolute Djimi Traore from Renard. Hervolsen breaks down the left and rolls a cross into the six-yard box. Unfortunately no Norway attacker’s there. Luckily Renard is. The France defender carefully taps the ball into the bottom corner from six yards out. What a finish. You can’t be too careful in those positions.
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GOAL! France 1-1 Norway (Renard own goal, 54 min)
What a calamity!
53 min: Henry dances down the left, but her cross is headed over by Gauvin.
52 min: “Seriously, Mr. Kirkup?” Jeffrey Lilley says. “No one worries about lopsided results in the men’s game. As long as goal differential is one of the tiebreakers, expect teams to score all they can. If the game is to henceforth be about “sportsmanship” and not hurting your opponent’s feelings, then I propose the game be played until the first goal is scored. So if a team scores in minute 1, so be it. If they score in minute 47, 88, or 120, so be it. Penalty kicks would be handled as normal after 2 extras. That way, the scoreline is always 1-0 or 0-0 (Team X on penalties) so everyone looks good and no one gets sad. In all seriousness? They’re all professionals. They can deal with a lopsided loss. Don’t try to put kiddie game rules into a professional competition, and don’t criticize the women when you don’t criticize the men.”
51 min: There’s been little response from Norway yet.
48 min: “Thirteen goals,” Joshua Reynolds says. “It does make me wonder what number should the celebrations have stopped. Would the receive stick if they had just stoically walked back after scoring the fifth goal? The eighth? Where exactly is this line where you are celebrating too much?”
Le Sommer feeds Majri on the left. She takes no time at all to whip in a cross and Gauvin is more alert than Thorisdottir, allowing her to sweep a low shot past Hjelmseth. Gauvin, who’s had some problems off the pitch, is delighted.
⏱ Just 44 seconds!
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 12, 2019
The perfect start to the second half for #FRA.
Watch on @BBCFOUR: https://t.co/oDqxqT1ajS#FIFAWWC #ChangeTheGame pic.twitter.com/bWIKODfZNU
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GOAL! France 1-0 Norway (Gauvin, 46 min)
That didn’t take long!
46 min: Norway get the second half underway.And...
Half-time reading
Half-time: France 0-0 Norway
Neither goalkeeper has had to make a serious save. See you in 15 minutes.
45 min: Majri slips inside on the left and curls a cross towards the far post. It’s deflected wide for a corner.
41 min: Graham Hansen darts into the area from the right, but her shot from a tight angle isn’t beating Bouhaddi at her near post.
40 min: “I have no problem with winning 13-0 if that’s your thing,” Alan Kirkup says. “I do have a problem with OTT celebrations, but again if that’s your thing so be it. If the USWNT wanted to bring attention to themselves (and strangely to the competition as a whole) they did a brilliant job. However the target on the holders’ backs just got a lot bigger. If they don’t win this thing they’ll have to take a whole lot of stick, and every neutral is now supporting whoever plays against them.”
39 min: Diani swivels away from the gasping Minde again, but the France attacker ends up having to settle for a corner. Her end product has been lacking.
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36 min: The quality has dipped a bit in the last few minutes. Both sides need to show more composure. Or maybe France could keep aiming crosses near the lamentable Hjelmseth. The Norway goalkeeper comes for another one, looking like she wants to punch it, and again she’s flapping. The ball reaches Le Sommer, who pulls it back to Thiney. However the midfielder takes too long to shoot when the goal was unguarded.
34 min: Saevik skews a shot over from 18 yards.
31 min: Minde, who’s had a tough half, lets a long ball drop over her head and through to Diani. The Norway left-back’s lucky Diani can’t do anything with he cross.
29 min: The impressive Diani surges clear on the right and for a moment it looks like she’s going to shoot. Until she decides to cut it back to no one in particular, offering Norway a reprieve.
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25 min: Majri crosses from the right. Hjelmseth comes for charging out for it, hands flapping, clown shoes on, and gets nowhere near it, the big galoot. Diabolical goalkeeping. Fortunately her team-mates bail her out, Minde bundling the ball behind when it’s lofted into the six-yard box. Nothing comes from the corner.
24 min: The persistent Diani runs at Minde on the right, twisting this way and that, and drills a low ball into the middle. It’s behind Gauvin but the striker tries a crafty backheel. Not crafty enough, though. Hjelmseth makes the save.
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23 min: Le Sommer dribbles into space down the left, but her cross is poor. “I’ve no problem with the US scoring and celebrating 13 goals,” Rob Coughlin says. “This is the World Cup, right? Men or women, it’s the World Cup.”
22 min: Diani scoots down the right and digs a cross into the middle. The ball bounces round the area, Norway doing their very best to present it to a France attacker, but eventually it’s scrambled away. This is a decent game.
19 min: Diani drills a shot wide from 20 yards.
15 min: The second corner comes to nothing. “After hearing all the criticism, I watched the highlights reel of the 13 goals scored by the USA, and it did leave a sore taste in my mouth,” OB Jato says. “While I don’t agree with anyone saying that they should have stepped off the gas after around their fifth goal (since that would have been even more disrespectful to the opposition), they were seemingly stuck in a FIFA game on the easy mode - scoring a goal every now and then, but celebrating with the same vigour even after their 13th goal! Giving the fans a good time is a good thing, but sometimes it can be too much of a good thing. Surely scoring an unlucky number of goals (13) won’t come back to hurt them in the end?”
14 min: The corner’s sent into the near post by Reiten. Engen glances it towards goal but it’s deflected over by a French defender. That was a crucial touch. It was probably heading in.
13 min: Norway exert a strong press on the right and Seivik wins possession off Majri. Hervolsen runs at Renard and wins a corner.
11 min: Norway are growing in confidence. They probe down the left, Reiten whipping in another cross. France are dozing a little and Saevik arrives at the far post, only to knee wide.
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10 min: A brief stoppage while one of the assistant referees sort out a faulty flag. Turns out she needs a new one and we have to wait a while for one to arrive. Sort it out Fifa!
8 min: France get themselves in a tangle at the back, Mbock Bathy unable to deal with the bustling presence of Herlovsen as they chase a long ball. Herlovsen comes out on top, muscling the France centre-back out the way, and Bouhaddi has to sprawl from her line to confront the Norway forward. The goalkeeper’s unconvincing, though, and again Herlovsen is too strong. At one point Bouhaddi looks like she’s about to knock the striker over. Instead the ball squirms clear on the left and Herlovsen turns and sends in a cross that drifts out of play.
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7 min: Norway have crept out of their own half. They’ll need to work hard to deal with this early French flurry. The home fans are also making a lot of noise.
5 min: It’s a typically fast start from France, the kind that suggests they were sniffing raw steak just before emerging from the dressing room. They win another corner, this time on the right, but Henry can’t do anything with Majri’s deep delivery.
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4 min: “There’s nothing wrong with a 13-0 scoreline, I suppose, but it would have caused a great deal more gaiety and cheer in the world had the USA been on the 0 side of it,” Charles Antaki says.
2 min: The brilliant Le Sommer charges down the left and whacks a cross into the area. It’s only half cleared and Norway panic a little when a ricochet takes the ball back into the path of Henry. But she’s offside when she shoots wide. No need to fret.
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Peep! France, in their dark blue, get the game underway in Nice. Norway, all in white, immediately concede a free-kick on the left. Thiney’s fizzing delivery is dangerous, but Diani can’t connect at the far post.
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The teams are out. Time for the anthems!
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A decent record ...
14 - France have won 14 of their last 15 internationals, losing only to Germany (0-1 in February 2019) during this run. In these 15 games, they have outscored their opponents 52-5 and have attempted over five times the number of shots on target (118 v 23). Form. #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/ofjOyWUk7P
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 12, 2019
Hands up for the warmup ...
It’s the generation game ...
Team news: France v Norway
France: Bouhaddi, Torrent, Mbock, Renard, Majri, Bussaglia, Henry, Diani, Thiney, Le Sommer, Gauvin
Norway: Hjelmseth, Moe Wold, Mjelde, Thorisdottir, Minde, Sævik, Bøe Risa, Engen, Reiten, Graham, Herlovsen
Preamble
Hello. I believe in 13-0! I believe in 13-0! I believe in 13-0! Ok, maybe not this evening. This one’s unlikely to be a horrible mismatch. France were quick, slick and strong in their opening game against South Korea, but the hosts will face a stern test against the tough Norwegians, who made light of the absence of Ada Hegerberg demonstrating their threat with a thumping 3-0 win over Nigeria. This one could decide who wins Group A and it promises to be tight, tense and thoroughly entertaining, which is exactly what I deserve after sitting through Argentina 0-0 Japan the other day.
Kick-off: 8pm BST, 9pm CET.
