Relive France’s greatest Women’s World Cup performance

Les Bleues beat higher-ranked Canada 4-0 en route to 2011 semis

Canucks coach Carolina Morace: "France played the perfect game"

France go into next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™ with justifiably high hopes. Yet while their national squad and club sides are stronger than ever, Les Bleues’ pedigree at the global finals is comparatively modest.

The French, in fact, have only qualified for three of the tournament’s previous seven editions – and rarely looked like title contenders. The exception to this rule came at Germany 2011, when they produced some stellar displays en route to reaching the semi-finals for the first and, to date, only time.

An impressive campaign peaked with this spectacular 4-0 demolition of Canada, a team that had arrived ranked sixth in the world – one place above Les Bleues – and with genuine ambitions of bringing home the trophy. As it was, the then CONCACAF champions crumbled in the face of a dazzling French display, illuminated by goals from Camille Abily, Elodie Thomis and Gaetane Thiney (2).

Thiney became the first Bleues player to bag a Women’s World Cup brace, and her second goal - a superb long-range strike off the inside of the right-hand post - was the pick of France’s four.

"I made a lot of sacrifices to be where I am today, and it is a big pleasure for me to score two goals in this kind of stadium with a great atmosphere," she said afterwards, marvelling at the 20,000-plus crowd in Bochum’s Ruhrstadion. "We were outstanding today. Everything went right for us."

Canada, meanwhile, were consigned to elimination by the defeat. All that was left was to graciously applaud their flawless conquerors. As the Canucks’ coach, Carolina Morace, said: "France didn’t make a single mistake. They played the perfect game."

Did you know?

The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup prompted TIPP-KICK to produce female figurines for the first time, and one of them – clad in France’s distinctive kit – is part of the Women’s World Cup collection at the FIFA Football Museum in Zurich.