Panama 3-6 France: Diani nets hat-trick, Les Bleues qualify for knock-outs

Kadidiatou Diani's hat-trick fires Herve Renard's side into the last-16 as Les Bleus come from behind to thrash Central Americans and top Group F in Women's World Cup thriller.

Match Report

France finished Group F in top spot after a stunning display against Panama saw them come from behind to win in emphatic fashion.

The Central American side looked set to spring a seismic shock on the 2019 quarter-finalists, after Marta Cox opened the scoring in just the second minute of the game.

But France's superior quality eventually told, with Maelle Lakrar, Kadidiatou Diani and Lea Le Garrec all hitting the target to make it 4-1 at the break.

Diani completed a brilliant hat-trick with a second penalty just seven minutes into the second half, before Yomira Pinzon pulled one back for Panama to make it 5-2 from the spot with the third penalty of the game, before Lineth Cedeno got a third after a long VAR check.

There was to be no fairy-tale comeback from Panama, though, who saw their World Cup campaign end without a single point in devastating fashion, Vicki Becho making sure of the win with a sixth for France in the 10th of 13 added minutes to make it 6-3.

Line-ups

Panama XI: Y. Bailey, H. Jaen, M. Cox, Y. Pinzon, A. Quintero, D. Salazar, Wendy Natis, Carmen Montenegro, Emily Cedeño, Carina Baltrip-Reyes, Riley Tanner

Subs: F. Córdoba, K. Castillo, R. Espinosa, N. Mills, L. Batista, Lineth Cedeño, E. Hernandez, K. Riley, S. Fábrega, S. Gonzalez, Rosario Vargas, W. De Obaldia

France XI: K. Diani, E. Périsset, G. Geyoro, P. Peyraud Magnin, C. Matéo, M. Lakrar, L. Le Garrec, S. Bacha, E. Cascarino, É. De Almeida, V. Becho

Subs: W. Renard, E. Le Sommer, K. Dali, V. Asseyi, S. Durand, S. Toletti, A. Majri, A. Tounkara, S. Karchaoui, Naomie Feller, Laurina Fazer, C. Picaud