Fifa Women’s World Cup: England face Colombia in quarter-final; France play co-hosts Australia

France coach Herve Renard is confident playing against “an entire nation” will bring out the best in his team when they face Australia in the quarter-finals of the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Brisbane on Saturday.

Les Bleues eased into the last eight with a 4-0 win over Morocco but must now overcome a hostile 50,000 crowd when they take on the co-hosts with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.

While Australia are bidding to get to the last four for the first time, a win for France will see them match their best performance at a Women’s World Cup, which remains their run to the semi-finals in Germany in 2011.

They also lost in the semi-finals at last year’s Euros.

“We love that. This is why we do this job. It is the beauty of football,” Renard told reporters on the eve of the game.

“The Australian people deserve to be congratulated for making this such a success.

“It has been a fantastic tournament. We are playing in beautiful stadiums that are always full.

“We know we are not just playing against one team but against an entire nation. But it just gives us extra motivation. We prefer this to playing a friendly in front of 100 people.”

France lost 1-0 to the...

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