France especially made a big impression in the first half. It was already 5-0 at halftime Les Bleues† The Congo-born midfielder Grace Geyoro (25) of Paris Saint-Germain was the surprising star with three goals in the first half, in minutes 9, 40 and 45. She thus came to eleven goals in fifty international matches for France.
Attackers Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG) Delphine Cascarino (Olympique Lyon) were the other goalscorers, in minutes 12 and 38.
Three years ago, France and Italy both reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup. Host country France lost 2-1 to the later world champion United States, Italy then lost 2-0 to losing finalist the Netherlands.
Italy succeeded in the second half that the disgrace did not become even greater. In the 63rd minute, veteran captain Sara Gama appeared to receive a direct red card after going wild into a duel, but she was saved by VAR and was allowed to return to the field after a yellow card. With eleven against eleven, the Italian substitute Martina Piemonte (AC Milan) made the 5-1 fifteen minutes before the end, as a small plaster on the wound.
Earlier in the evening, Belgium and Iceland (1-1) already played the first match in group D, where the opponent of the Orange will come out in the quarter-finals if the reigning European champion gets through the group stage.