England moves forward, but not without incident
Steph Houghton scored on a rare free kick to set England on its way to a 3-0 victory over Cameroon on Sunday, clinching a place in the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals after a game punctuated by the anger of the African team over VAR decisions.
At times during the incident-filled game in Valenciennes, France, the Cameroon players looked like they might refuse to resume playing while referee Quin Liang struggled to maintain control.
Houghton scored the first goal after the captain was set up for an indirect free kick in the penalty area in the 14th minute. Ellen White added to the lead in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time with a goal only awarded after an offside call was overruled on a video review.
Cameroon players were seething again when they were denied a goal at the start of the second half when another offside VAR review went against them.
An unusual opening goal set the tone. When White crossed from the left flank to Duggan, Augustine Ejangue intercepted and passed back to her goalkeeper, Annette Ngo Ndom. The indirect free kick was awarded, sparking anger among Cameroon players.
Ejangue was caught on camera spitting toward Toni Duggan but faced no repercussions, even with VARto review the incident, which could have resulted in a red card.
During first-half stoppage time, right back Lucy Bronze slipped the ball through to White, who put the ball in the net. The flag went up for offside, but the celebrations were only delayed. White was given her fourth goal in three matches.
As Cameroon’s players remained in a huddle protesting, the referee delayed the restart. The game eventually resumed, briefly, before halftime.
France 2, Brazil 1: France survived a tense extra-time knockout match against Brazil and advanced to the quarterfinals when captain Amandine Henry redirected Amel Majri’s free kick for a tiebreaking goal in the 107th minute in Le Havre. It marked perhaps the final World Cup game for 33-year-old Brazilian star Marta, who scored a record 17 goals in five tournaments.