European Championship semi-finalists France have messed up the World Cup debut of their new coach Hervé Renard.
In the first game of Group F at the World Cup, France in Sydney, despite overwhelming superiority and hitting the crossbar in the 90th minute, only managed a disappointing 0-0 draw against Jamaica. Jamaican Khadija Shaw (90.2) received a yellow card in added time, but celebrated with her teammates the first point in their second appearance at the World Cup.
France coach Hervé Renard only took over the Équipe Tricolore at the end of March, having previously looked after the men’s national teams from Morocco and Saudi Arabia at World Cup tournaments. The 54-year-old is only the second coach to have featured at both men’s and women’s finals, after Canada’s John Herdman (Men Canada, Women New Zealand).
Netherlands with a narrow opening win
Earlier, in Group G in Wellington, New Zealand, Sweden avoided a false start to the World Cup with a last-minute goal in front of 18,317 spectators. Former Bundesliga player Amanda Ilestedt saved a 2-1 (0-0) win for the Scandinavians with her goal in the 90th minute and at the same time prevented South Africa from winning their first point at a World Cup. Hildah Magaia gave the underdog a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute. Fridolina Rolfö, who played for FC Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg from 2017 to 2021, equalized in the 65th minute.
The Netherlands also struggled to achieve a narrow opening success. The team of former Bayern coach Andries Jonker celebrated a 1-0 (1-0) win against World Cup newcomers Portugal in Dunedin in front of 11,991 spectators. Stefanie van der Gragt, under contract with Bayern Munich in the 2016/2017 season, scored the winning goal with a header in the 13th minute. The success sees the Netherlands second in Group E behind the USA, who started the tournament with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.
