Women’s World Cup: United States beats France to advance to semifinal

Megan Rapinoe added two more goals to her World Cup tally to lead the United States to a 2-1 quarterfinal win over France in front of 45,595 in Paris on Friday.

Rapinoe became the first player to score twice in back-to-back games and is now tied for the most goals in the competition with five (Alex Morgan, Ellen White and Sam Kerr all have).

Rapinoe’s first came early in the game in just the fourth minute when her free kick made its way through traffic in the box and found the back of the net. She doubled the lead in the 65th minute on a cut back from Tobin Heath, who was played into the box by Alex Morgan. Heath found the back of the net in the 75th minute but Crystal Dunn, who set up the play that would have made it 3-0, was ruled (curiously so) offside.

Six minutes later, France pulled a goal back off a set piece with a header from Wendie Renard, which gave way to some nervy moments the rest of the way. That included a penalty shout for a handball on Kelley O’Hara and several more waves of attacks from a France team that finished with 60 percent of the possession on the night and outshot the Americans 20-10.

The win was the 10th straight for the Stars and Stripes (tying Norway for most all-time in World Cup) and puts them two wins away from a repeat. They’ll face England on Tuesday in Lyon at 3 p.m. ET.