A small goal, a narrow victory, and a ticket for the World Cup. The French women’s football team validated, Tuesday, April 12, its ticket for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand by winning by the smallest of margins (1-0) against Slovenia at the MMArena du Mans, on the last day of European qualifying. The evening scorer Delphine Cascarino delivered the French women on the return from the locker room (48th), after a first period where they had been manhandled by their opponents. Thanks to this eighth success in as many games, Les Bleues have completed an almost perfect qualifying campaign and finished well ahead of Group I (24 points).
They just needed a little spark. Returning from the locker room, after a long streak of possession, Delphine Cascarino, one of the most prominent Tricolores, delivered the Blues by throwing herself into the area to take over a center from Clara Matéo, narrowly missed by Marie-Antoinette Katoto, transparent tonight.
Freed, Corinne Deacon’s players mastered the second act and kept up the pressure on Zala Mersnik’s goal, without managing to double the lead. No matter, the main thing was elsewhere. With this victory, their twelfth in a row, the French women are guaranteed to compete in the fifth World Cup in their history, four years after the 2019 edition at home.
And yet, the first period was laborious on the lawn of the MMArena of Le Mans. Facing their group runners-up at kick-off, Les Bleues controlled the ball, but had great difficulty building hard-hitting attacks. Surprisingly feverish (like Sandy Baltimore’s slip when she had just entered the box in the 41st minute), Corinne Deacon’s players did not really manage to find themselves on the ground, and lacked success in their offensives. Opposite, Slovenia remained on the lookout and proved dangerous on the defensive errors of the French (9th, 39th, 43rd), saved by an imperial Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. Before Cascarino takes matters into his own hands.
If it was necessary to wait until the last day to validate the qualification, the French team never really doubted in this qualification campaign. With eight wins in eight games, Les Bleues finished far ahead of Wales, second, at eight points. Driven by an incredible attacking momentum (40 goals scored and only three conceded), Les Bleues mastered their subject from the first opposition to the last. What to get in the legs before their next deadline, the Euro, which will be held this summer in England.