Women’s World Cup: USA set up France quarter-final after knocking Spain out, Sweden beat Canada 1-0

Megan Rapinoe is already looking forward to the United States’s mouth-watering quarter-final date with Women’s World Cup hosts France after her two penalties squeezed her side past resilient Spain 2-1 on Monday.

The reigning world champions will face the French in Paris on Friday in a match that could well decide the destiny of the tournament after Rapinoe struck from the spot in the seventh and 75th minutes to decide a last-16 contest played in sweltering conditions in Reims, and Rapinoe hopes it becomes the big moment for women’s football.

“I hope it’s wild and crazy and the fans are crazy and that there’s tonnes of media around it and it’s just a big spectacle,” Rapinoe said of Friday’s match.