were forced to settle for a point in their opener against Jamaica as the Caribbean country pulled off an upset in Sydney.
The game ended goalless although there was drama late on as Kadidiatou Diani hit the crossbar for France and then Manchester City forward Khadija Shaw was shown a second yellow card and the Jamaican star was dismissed.
It is not a disastrous start to the campaign for France, with Brazil and Panama still to play, but it was a frustrating one as Herve Renard’s side could not turn their dominance into a lead despite a number of chances.
Jamaica battled hard, though, and were delighted with their first ever World Cup point.
Earlier on Sunday Sweden avoided a nightmare start to their campaign thanks to a last minute winner from Amanda Ilestedt giving them a 2-1 victory over South Africa in Wellington.
The 2022 Africa Cup of Nations champions threatened a huge upset when they took the lead after 48 minutes through Hildah Magaia, but Frida Rolfo’s deflected effort saw the Swedes equalise 65 minutes in.
A draw would still have been a surprise and it looked like the game was going to end level before Ilestedt headed home the winner in in the dying moments and secured a winning start to Group G.
Sunday’s second game saw a relatively routine victory for Netherlands as they beat Portugal 1-0 in Group E in Dunedin.
Stefanie van der Gragt scored the only goal of the game after just 13 minutes and although the Dutch couldn’t add to their total, they were never really troubled by the Portuguese and go level with USA on three points in their group.
France will still expect to progress from Group F into the last 16 as they are still to face Brazil and Panama, but it has been an underwhelming start to the tournament for them.
On a great day for Jamaica there will be disappointment that they lost their captain late on and Shaw will now be suspended for their next game against Panama.
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