I shall leave you with Suzy Wrack’s report from the Parc des Princes. Bye!
Tomorrow we will have live coverage of:
- Germany v China at 2pm BST
- Spain v South Africa at 5pm BST
- Norway v Nigeria at 8pm BST
A satisfying night for the hosts, who were far too strong for the feeble South Koreans. This was the perfect way for France to get their tournament underway, even if it was disappointing to witness such a lack of competitive tension. France were excellent and could have scored more than four. South Korea were lucky only to concede four.
Full-time: France 4-0 South Korea
That’s your lot!
90 min: There will be three more minutes of misery for South Korea.
86 min: Grace Geyoro replaces Gaetana Thiney; Yeo Min-ji replaces Jung Seol-bin.
This is a fantastic goal and a fine way to liven up a dull second half. Henry takes a pass from Le Sommer, drives forward and lets fly from 20 yards with a swerving right-footed shot that whizzes into the left corner. The celebrations are jubilant and wild. They enjoyed that.
GOAL! France 4-0 South Korea (Henry, 85 min)
What a goal!
81 min: Le Sommer just took a heavy blow. She’s limping a bit, but she says she can continue.
78 min: Bussaglia clips one wide from the edge of the area.
77 min: A poor error from Renard, who completely misjudges a high ball, but Lee Mi-na scuffs wide when she was clean through on goal.
74 min: Amel Majri makes way for Eve Perisset.
72 min: Kim Min-jung requires some treatment after a heavy fall. She should be fine.
70 min: South Korea have a shot! Kang Chaerim sends it well over from 20 yards, though. France respond by bringing on Valerie Gauvin for Delphine Cascarino.
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69 min: Lee Mina replaces Lee Young-ju.
65 min: Nothing is happening. France appear to have declared.
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62 min: Have a look at our shiny Golden Boot graphic.
60 min: I don’t think South Korea have had a shot yet.
57 min: Henry drills a shot straight at Kim Min-jung from 20 yards.
56 min: It’s one-way traffic. No prizes for guessing which way.
53 min: France win a corner on the right. It’s basically a corner. In fact it almost leads to another goal, Majri’s corner headed just wide of the near post by Jung Seol-bin. That was almost an own goal.
50 min: This feels like a question of how many France want to score. South Korea are very much in “it’s still 0-0” and “no matter what happens we do not lose this half” mode.
48 min: “Though the Golden Boot traditionally goes to a fox in the box, maybe Renard from set pieces could be in the running,” Kari Tulinius. “What a great header of the ball.”
46 min: France get the second half underway. “Given that the South Koreans really can’t compete in the air with the French you’d think it’d be pretty obvious to put players on the posts at set pieces to try to react to the result of losing the first header,” David Wall says. “Especially after the second goal was so easy.”
In other news Eden Hazard has completed his move to Real Madrid.
Comunicado Oficial: @hazardeden10. #WelcomeHazard | #RealMadrid
— Real Madrid C.F.⚽ (@realmadrid) June 7, 2019
Eden Hazard has signed with Real Madrid until June 2024. £88,5 initial fee. Official! ⚪️✔️ https://t.co/lwC5MvhSE3
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 7, 2019
Half-time: France 3-0 South Korea
A ridiculously lopsided first half draws to a close with France in complete control. See you in 15 minutes.
Majri lifts the corner into the middle from the left and Renard rises highest to plant a fine header, her second of the evening, into the right corner. This is so simple.
GOAL! France 3-0 South Korea (Renard, 45 min+3)
This is laughably one-sided.
45 min+2: France win another corner, Majri’s shot deflected wide. South Korea have been appalling. And...
45 min: There will be two added minutes.
44 min: Bussaglia fires well wide from 25 yards.
39 min: This is a total mismatch.
Thiney drives an outswinging corner into the area from the right and the 6ft 1in Renard arrives to blooter a header home. Kim Mung-jin would have ended up in the Seine if she’d tried to get in the way of that. It was also awful defending from Hwang, who just let Renard run off her.
GOAL! France 2-0 South Korea (Renard, 35 min)
They didn’t have to wait long to make up for the VAR disappointment.
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34 min: Majri slips a pass through to Le Sommer, who sees a rising drive pushed over at her near post by Kim Min-jung. Nothing comes from the resulting corner.
33 min: France take another short corner and this time Diani’s able to have a shot from the edge of the area. Her effort flies over.
32 min: France keep pressing. Cascarino sees a shot blocked wide for a corner on the right, moments after Thiney almost reached a cross in the six-yard box.
31 min: It’s such a shame that was ruled out. It was a fantastic goal, Renard heading a cross on for Mbock Bathy to crash a volley home from 12 yards. It was such a good finish from the France centre-back, but there’s no fooling the technology these days.
GOAL DISALLOWED!
After an interminable wait the goal is ruled out for offside against Mbock Bathy, who had one foot in an offside position.
VAR check!
They’re checking for offside.
GOAL! France 2-0 South Korea (Mbock Bathy, 27 min)
They’ve threatened now.
24 min: South Korea appear to have weathered the storm for now. France haven’t properly threatened for a while.
22 min: A corner to France on the right. Marji’s delivery is headed away. But South Korea can’t properly clear their lines. Renard puts the ball back into the area and Mbock Bathy shins an acrobatic overhead kick miles over.
20 min: South Korea win their first corner, Torrent haring back to boot the ball behind. Jung Seol-bin curls it straight into the side-netting. That was appalling.
16 min: South Korea get into France’s half! Give them a round of applause. Unfortunately the move ends when Mbock Bathy bustles Jung Seolbin off the ball.
13 min: France look dangerous every time they go forward. This could get embarrassing. They’re peppering the South Korean goal and are shooting at every opportunity. I’m not sure South Korea have been out of their half yet.
11 min: Le Sommer has now scored in six major tournaments for France. Not a bad record. She also 11 in her last 11 internationals.
A simple but well-worked goal. Henry charges down the right, with the South Korean defence completely out of position, and she has the composure to pull a cutback to the brilliant Le Sommer, who clips a rising shot into the roof of the net from close range. What a start for France!
GOAL! France 1-0 South Korea (Le Sommer, 9 min)
This has been coming since the opening ceremony.
Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
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8 min: Some of you have emailed why the teams are referred to as France Women and South Korea Women in the score box. I believe it’s down to a technical issue, but clearly it’s not acceptable and is hopefully something that will be resolved for the next game.
7 min: It’s all France. Diani combines with Le Sommer, charging in from the left, but the forward can’t quite enough on her shot from 18 yards and Kim Minjung makes a save down to her right. A goal is surely on the way.
5 min: Torrent charges down the right and sends a cross into the middle. It should be meat and drink for Kim Min-jung, but the goalkeeper flaps at it and is hugely fortunate that the ball bounces off the unwitting Le Sommer and goes wide of the open goal.
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3 min: Another surge from France, Diani scheming this time, threatening on the edge of the area, but the forward’s crowded out before she can get a shot away. South Korea are going to have to do a lot of defending.
2 min: France are on the front foot immediately, breaking down the left. The ball’s worked into the box by Majri. A poor clearance comes back to her and she curls not too far wide of the far post.
Peep! South Korea, all in white, get the first game of the 2019 World Cup underway. They’re kicking from right to left in the first half, but it’s not long before they concede possession to the French, who are in their deep navy blue. Red socks, in case you were wondering. You were wondering.
It’s time for the anthems. The anthems are done. Fifa Gianni beams next to Emmanuel Macron.
Here come the teams! The stadium’s packed and they’re greeted by a huge roar as they emerge. Atmosphere rating: feelgood.
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The teams are in the tunnel. We’ll have football soon! “Good afternoon from Tennessee, where I am experiencing uncertainty for the first time going into a World Cup,” Claire Tuley says. “Not that the USWNT has a divine right to win this thing, but I’ve literally never known life without them making it to the podium. Now our defence is a question mark and everyone is saying this is wide-open tournament, and it’s a bit of an existential crisis. I’m glad that the game is growing in other countries and I love spirited competition, but also I enjoy winning things. Given that they could meet in the quarters and they seem pretty good, I am hoping France does well today since it’s their opening game as hosts, but not too well.”
Panic over, they’re showing the opening ceremony now. Jain is singing. As a surprise some planes zoom over the stadium, creating quite the spectacle. The atmosphere’s bubbling nicely.
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The BBC aren’t showing the opening ceremony! They’re talking informatively about the football instead! This is an outrage! I wanted to watch the experimental dance!
Pre-match emails
“Evening Jacob,” Simon McMahon says. “The words ‘World Cup’ certainly get the heart racing, especially so when you can add ‘featuring Scotland’, which is not often. I’m hoping the Scottish women can produce one or two memorable moments, and maybe even qualify. After that, you never know. Though you do, with Scotland anyway. But still, here’s to a great tournament.”
“I love that the referee’s last name begins with the letters ‘ump’,” Peter Oh says. “By that measure alone, she was born to ref! Play ball!”
Pre-match reading
Team news
France: Bouhaddi; Torrent, Mbock Bathy, Renard, Majri; Henry, Thiney, Bussaglia; Cascarino, Diani, Sommer.
South Korea: Kim Minjung; Kim Hyerl, Hwang Boram, Kim Doyeon, Jang Selgi; Lee Youngju, Ji So-yun, Cho Sohyun; Kang Yumi, Jung Seolbin, Lee Geummin.
Referee: Claudia Umpierrez (Uruguay)
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These two sides actually met at the 2015 World Cup. France ran out 3-0 winners.
Before the game there’ll be an opening ceremony. And who doesn’t love an opening ceremony? We all love an opening ceremony. I am a fan of an opening ceremony. This one will feature a performance from a French singer called Jain.
The former French tennis player and grand slam champion is clearly looking forward to the festivities.
1h30...
— AmelieMauresmo (@AmeMauresmo) June 7, 2019
A newfound appreciation for women’s football would be an even greater turnaround than the deification last year of Gareth Southgate for his feats in charge of the England men’s team. If mass audiences do start to watch women playing top-flight football, the rest – equitable sponsorship, packed stadiums, decent player salaries, not asking the world’s best forward to twerk – may follow.
Read the rest of Susie Rushton on why we need to show more support for women’s football here.
My colleague Suzy Wrack is covering the game from the Parc des Princes. And look, she’s having a great time already.
PDP looking flyyyy... #FIFAWWC #DareToShine pic.twitter.com/n5O9LVUFlm
— Suzy Wrack (@SuzyWrack) June 7, 2019
Predictions! Get yer predictions here! Slag off our writers because of their predictions!
Preamble
World. Cup. Placed next to each other, can you think of two better words in the English language? Two words to make you go weak at the knees and feel like all your birthdays have come at once? Perhaps “Love” and “Island”, I’ll give you that, or “Dawson’s” and “Creek”. But no, it’s “World” and Cup”. Look, take a moment to feel what happens when I put them together: World Cup. Spooky, right?
Make no mistake, this means everything. By now we’re beyond the point where it feels necessary to explain why women’s football matters. Sorry to break it to all the sexists out there, but it’s here, it’s staying and it’s only going to get bigger from this point onwards. The interest in this tournament is going to be enormous, with coverage like never before, and a multitude of compelling storylines ought to attract even more fans to a sport growing in strength all the time. I’ll level with you, chums: I had a bit of a tear in the eye watching that Nike advert last night. That girl ... she was just so ... so ... so ... so inspiring!
Hopefully children everywhere will be watching, ready to be captivated and enthralled by a month of non-stop football, and thinking they can change the world for the better. This is expected to be the best women’s World Cup yet – you’d hope so given that almost one million tickets have already been sold – and rather brilliantly nobody seems to have any clue which team will achieve sporting immortality by lifting the trophy on 7 July.
Twenty-four countries have made it to France (six groups of four, in case you’re wondering), but there’s no widespread agreement on who’s going to win the thing. Our expert writers certainly can’t agree. Some went for England, glorious England, others went for those ominous Germans. Holland, the European champions, can’t be overlooked, and it’s going to take an almighty effort to stop the USA retaining their trophy. Australia are also tipped to go far.
Then there’s France, tournament hosts and perennial quarter-finalists. They begin their campaign against South Korea at the Parc des Princes and will be desperate to get off to a flyer. It’s unlikely to be straightforward, though. South Korea have the outstanding Chelsea forward Ji So-yun in their ranks and their squad is crammed with players who won the Under-17 World Cup and also reached the Under-20 World Cup semi-finals in 2010. No wonder Korea’s Golden Generation have designs on pipping Norway and Nigeria to a knockout spot.
All of which means it will be interesting to see whether it will help or hinder France to play in front of an expectant home crowd, not least because they can complete a historic double by emulating the success of the men’s team in Russia last year. No pressure. Just one of the many subplots to keep us occupied over the next month. Let’s play!
Kick-off: 8pm BST, 9pm CET.
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