France 4-2-3-1 (Bouhaddi – Torrent, Mbock, Renard, Majri – Bussaglia, Henry – Diani, Thiney, Le Sommer – Gauvin)

Norway 4-2-3-1 (Hjelmseth – Wold, Mjelde, Thorisdottir, Minde – Risa, Engen – Saevik, Hansen, Reiten – Herlovsen)

France overcame Norway in what was a highly entertaining and technical game played between two teams who sought to win by attacking in their own unique ways. The French lined up in the same shape as in their opening win over South Korea, with one personnel change – Gauvin came in up front while Diani went wide right, with Cascarino dropping to the bench.

Corinne Diacre’s side played with a similar intensity to their first game. They didn’t over-complicate their build-up, generally going long from goal kicks or when playing out from the back. On occasions they did build out with short passes, this was done to draw Norway’s defence out and create more space in behind for their attackers to exploit.

France’s build-up structure once again saw the double pivot taking it in turns to drop and receive from the centre-backs, Renard and Mbock. Henry or Bussaglia would then look to quickly spread the play to the wings. Alternately, the centre-backs would play quick diagonal switches to the far-side wing. Norway didn’t apply much pressure on the ball within their 4-4-2 mid-block, though they did leave space behind their back line. This combination played into France’s hands, as they made use of the passing ranges of Mbock, Renard and Henry to play quickly out to Diani and Le Sommer, getting them into 1v1 situations, or to play over the top of a Norwegian full-back for the wingers to run onto.

Diani was consistently found on the right-hand side and caused her opponent, Minde, serious problems with her pace, directness and dribbling skill. Whether in a race with Minde, facing her up 1v1, or combining through one-twos with a nearby midfielder, Diani regularly got in behind her opponent, hit the byline and played cut-backs for teammates to attack in the box.

While France attacked at a high tempo, with direct passing and a focus on getting their wingers on the ball near the touchline as quickly as possible, Norway built possession more gradually. Their attacking structure became more of a 2-4-3-1 or 2-2-5-1 as both full-backs pushed on down the wings, while Reiten and Saevik came inside between the French midfield and defence lines onto the same line as Hansen. This structure gave them plenty of options to use to penetrate the French defensive lines.

Norway built out through short passes between their centre-backs, Mjelde and Thorisdottir, which was slightly risky and occasionally led to trouble. France, pressing intensely in a 4-4-2 shape, had their strikers, central midfielders and wingers all in position to step up and press high on their opposite men, which meant mistakes by Mjelde and Thorisdottir would lead to turnovers and instant French counter-attacks from high up the pitch. Occasionally, Risa would drop to the right of the centre-back pair, forming a temporary back three and creating a 3v2 to play out with numerical superiority, but generally Norway looked to play out with their centre-back duo. They did this in several ways.

One was to go straight from centre-back to attacking midfielder, breaking two lines with one pass. With three players – Reiten, Hansen and Saevik – between the French midfield and defence, it wasn’t always possible for France’s two central midfielders to cover and Norway’s centre-backs could find gaps to play through.

Another possibility was that the centre-backs passed into the feet of Risa or Engen, who then drew pressure from Bussaglia or Henry. The central midfielders would then play out to the full-back on their side, who – with the near-side French centre-mid out of position – could then play immediately inside to the feet of Reiten or Saevik. Alternately, the Norway full-back would draw out the French full-back, opening space in the channel which Reiten or Saevik ran into and received in. And, if Norway wanted to be more direct, they had a willing runner up front in Herlovsen who offered a target for long balls, played well with her back to goal and had good support from Hansen, Saevik and Reiten for the second balls.

France modified their approach after going 2-1 up thanks to a controversial VAR call. With the lead they sat deeper in a low 4-5-1 block. Bilbault came on to solidify central midfield, replacing attacking midfielder Thiney. Cascarino was then brought on for Gauvin, going to the right wing while Diani went up front. The plan thereon was clear: soak up Norway pressure, take away the space for their attacking midfielders to play in and counter-attack quickly with Cascarino and Diani. This helped the hosts to see out the game and essentially seal progress to the next round.