Natalia Gaitán recalls Colombia's shock 2015 World Cup win over France

Ahead of their rematch in Lyon on Sunday, the former Colombia captain looks back at their World Cup shock nine years on, and offers an insight into how they pulled it off...

Colombia stunned France nine years ago with a 2-0 win at the 2015 Women’s World Cup

Olympic hosts France would have possibly wanted an easier opening game than Colombia, a team who shone at the World Cup 12 months ago.

But that’s the nature of an Olympic Games, with just 12 of the best nations going head-to-head across just 16 days.

Nine years ago, though it was a different story. France were still one of the powerhouses of the sport, while Colombia were at just their second World Cup, having not won any of their three games four years previous in 2011.

In Canada four years on, France had won their opening game against a strong England side, while Colombia had only drawn 1-1 with Mexico after coming from behind to secure a point, and scoring just their first World Cup goal in the process.

---

Check out over 100 more unique stories in WFC’s Premium section, available for just £45 for 12 months, paid in one go, or a £6 a month rolling subscription.

All subscriptions come with a 7-day free trial to allow you to explore our full archive.

Plus, guarantee you everything that is to come over the next 12 months…

---

Their second match against France was thought of as something of a mismatch given where the two respective nations were at, but Colombia pulled off one of the results of the tournament, putting in a solid defensive showing and a clinical edge in attack to win 2-0, putting themselves in a great position to reach the second round.

“When the draw came out and we saw it was France, England and Mexico, it was like ‘Oh, that’s a really tough group to be in,” says Natalia Gaitán, who captained the team throughout the 2015 World Cup.

“We had the first game against Mexico which was really tight, 1-1, and then we went to play France.”