France vs Brazil: Wendie show as Les Bleues edge Samba girls in most explosive FIFAWWC clash

Wendie Renard was the heroine of the day as France overcame a scare from Brazil to pick a first win at the FIFAWWC in Australia.

Renard netted a late winner to give France a narrow 2-1 win over Brazil in their Group F battle on Saturday.

2023 FIFAWWC favourites France and Brazil combined to deliver one of the games of the competition so far. 

It was an end-to-end battle between both sides at the Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. 

After the poor display in their opening game against Jamaica, the Blues came into the game looking to make amends against the Samba Girls. 

France started with that intent and it did not take long for them to find the breakthrough when the brilliant Kadidiatou Diani and Le Sommer combined effectively to put the Blues 1-0 up in the 17th minute. 

Brazil tried to fight back but the Europeans held on to their slim lead at the break. 

After the restart, both sides looked to add to the scoreline but it was the Samba Girls who were rewarded with an equaliser when Debinha found the level just before the hour mark. 

With the score level, the game became even more explosive as both teams searched for the elusive winner.

Five minutes from time, captain fantastic Renard towered home a late header from a Selma Bacha cross to seal the win and break the heart of Brazil. 

Brazil wanted the three points to seal a place in the knockout stage with one game to spare while France needed to avoid stories that touch heading into the last game.

Following the impressive win, France’s Les Bleues are now in control of Group F with four points. 

Brazil, on the other hand, is third with three points behind Jamaica who saw off Panama in the other group match. 

It’s now evenly poised heading into the final group games with all to play for.