huge disappointment for the French, who fell into the trap of Brazil and were again eliminated in the quarter-finals

After its defeat against the Seleçao on Saturday in Nantes, the French team now has seven eliminations at the gates of the last four in the last eight major tournaments.

The curse has struck again. Favorite in its quarter-final against Brazil, the French team once again experienced the pangs of elimination at this stage of a major competition, Saturday August 3, after a narrow defeat conceded at the end of the match (0-1) in Nantes. Yet another heartbreak for this French selection, which dreamed of winning the first Olympic medal in its history at home.

This one is likely to be particularly hard to swallow, however. As the blues’ dominance grew stronger and stronger on the Brazilian goal in the second half, it was hard to imagine how the Auriverdes could shake the French women with an immaculate record in the confrontation. And yet, the blow came following a misunderstanding between Elisa De Almeida and Griedge Mbock, taking advantage of Gabi Portilho to crucify Constance Picaud, the evening’s starter in goal (82nd, 0-1).

A just reward for the audacity of the midfielder, who had already come close to scoring on a first mistake by Wendie Renard earlier (64th), and who then hit the post during the 16 minutes of added time. The plan of the South Americans – the antithesis of a football rocked by samba – was simple but well-crafted: to thwart the Blues with cleats – and it ended up working.

In the sweetness of La Beaujoire, sold out (around 33,000 people), the Canary public played its part to the full, forcing its nature to accompany with a lively clamour each threat made to the yellow and green camp. Without forgetting to boo the multitude of fouls and timeouts that punctuated a game deliberately chopped up by the Seleçao.

In the first half, Sakina Karchaoui had the opportunity to punish this aggression with a penalty obtained by Delphine Cascarino, cut into the area (12th). But that was without counting on a wait of more than three minutes for a video referee check after which her attempt was pushed back by the opposing goalkeeper (16th).

The start of a new nightmare scenario which then saw the French players hit the posts twice with a header from Griedge Mbock on the crossbar (41st) and a cross from Sakina Karchaoui (70th). In the meantime, Marie-Antoinette Katoto had come close to donning the heroine’s costume with a header (60th). In vain.

Already eliminated in the quarter-finals at the last World Cup in 2023, the French team will not open its record under the orders of Hervé Renard. At the end of his contract after sixteen months in his position, the coach is retiring on this failure, while the Brazilians will play the semi-final in Marseille against Spain. Twelve years later, the frustration of fourth place in London has still not been alleviated by a successful epic.