Host nation France got off to a flying start at the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals at the Parc des Princes on June 7, a fine first half showing paving the way for a 4-0 win over a shell-shocked Korea Republic combination as the eighth quadrennial showcase of all that is good in the world of women's football kicked off in fitting fashion. "Les Bleus" set the tone of the evening's action inside 103 seconds. Wendie Renard's raking fifty yard ball to the left flank was played inside by Amel Majri to the hard-charging Eugenie Le Sommer. Her cross was partially cleared by the Korean defence, but only as far as French captain Amandine Henry, whose tantalising first-time curling shot arced inches past the left-hand post of Kim Min Jung, who was soon going to become a very busy goalkeeper. Her first involvement came in the fifth minute. French fullback Marion Torrent - looking and playing not unlike a young Ria Percival - burst onto the ball on the right flank and swept into space before whipping in a cross which Kim pawed off the head of the incoming Majri, the ball rebounding out of play of Le Sommer's knee. Two minutes later, Le Sommer was on the charge once more, this time working a one-two with Kadidiatou Diani - a lovely return pass - which invited the striker to let rip from the edge of the area with a shot Kim smothered to her right. The 'keeper didn't have a prayer in the ninth minute, however, as France opened the scoring with the fastest goal struck in the opening match of any FIFA Women's World Cup Finals. Diani pounced on an under-hit pass and sent Henry galloping clear down the right. Her angled pullback rolled perfectly into the stride of the incoming figure of Le Sommer, who fair battered the ball into the roof of the net to give "Les Bleus" the perfect start to France 2019. And they were far from finished. Within three minutes, Diani saw a shot blocked by a defender after Renard had headed Majri's corner down, while after a brief period of Korean resistance, highlighted by Jung Seol Bin shanking their only corner into the side-netting, a Majri corner was headed across by Renard to fellow central defender Griedge Mbock Bathy, whose spectacular bicycle kick attempt flew over the bar. Korea Republic failed to heed the warning, because in the 27th minute, France's central defensive duo combined again, this time to telling effect - or so we thought! Gaetane Thiney and Delphine Cascarino worked a corner short to Le Sommer, who delivered an angled cross from left to right which had the name of the tournament's tallest player written all over it. Renard duly rose above all-comers and headed the ball across to Mbock Bathy, who sent a ten yard volley flying past Kim - 2-0 … but was it? Uruguayan referee Claudia Umpierrez - a fitting surname for a match official - delayed the resumption of play while the first-ever Video Assistant Referee check in a FIFA Women's World Cup Finals fixture took place. It took a couple of minutes, by which time the 45,261 fans were getting a tad restless - after celebrating this goal, they wanted more. But VAR determined that by the size of Mbock Bathy's boot, it wasn't a goal - much to French dismay, play would resume with a free-kick for offside in the Korean penalty area. Paris hath no fury like a Frenchwoman scorned, and when there are eleven of them facing you, not to mention a sizable crowd urging them on, little wonder the Korean resistance was limited at best. France were relentless, and deservedly struck their second goal ten minutes before half-time. It was a textbook corner - Thiney's delivery, Renard's thumping downward header from six yards. 2-0.

Still they weren't satisfied, with the combination play of Torrent and Cascarino causing Korea no end of trouble, while midfield anchor Elise Bussaglia was also keen to get in on the act, as she sent a shot fizzing wide as the half-time whistle approached. When it sounded, it couldn't be heard for the cheers of the crowd as they celebrated a third French goal, which was almost a carbon copy of the second. This time, Majri delivered the corner, and the towering presence of Renard did the rest - a thumping ten yard header which flew into the net to bring about the 3-0 half-time scoreline. There was no way the Koreans would come back from this, so they set out their stall for the second half with damage limitation foremost in mind, a tactic which proved effective, although they were aided by a wicked wind which whipped around the Parc des Princes with increasing velocity. France mustered just one opportunity of note in the third quarter of this contest, a 57th minute Henry volley from the edge of the area which Kim smothered solidly. The Koreans responded to that opening six minutes later with their first chance of the match, substitute Kang Chae Rim making in-roads down the right before seeing her cross plucked from the sky one-handed by French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi. Six minutes later, Kang was through on goal, the beneficiary of a Bussaglia blunder. With Renard and Mbock Bathy in hot pursuit, the substitute reached the edge of the area before sending a rising twenty yarder narrowly over the crossbar. Another French error - Renard this time - presented the Koreans with another chance thirteen minutes from time. Substitute Lee Mi Na failed to make the most of the opening, however, dragging her effort past the far post. That blemish from Renard contrasted starkly with the raking pass she'd unleashed six minutes earlier, which picked out Diani on the right. Her lay-off to Thiney saw the playmaker bring the overlapping Torrent into play, and her cross targeted freshly introduced substitute Valerie Gauvin. Kim and central defensive stalwart Hwang Bo Ram combined to thwart the newcomer on this occasion, but they and their colleagues were facing another rising French tide, as the representatives of the tournament's host nation looked to finish the opening match of France 2019 with a flourish. Twelve minutes from time, Le Sommer linked with Bussaglia, who worked a one-two with Thiney before steering a twenty-yarder just past the post. That proved to be the warning shot for what was to come, as with five minutes remaining, France iced the cake. Captain Henry led the charge before working a one-two with Le Sommer, the return pass putting the midfield general in a pocket of space just outside the Korean penalty area, from where she curled home a beauty from twenty yards, a shot which left the diving Kim beaten all ends up for the fourth and final time on this auspicious occasion. This was a result which the Asian team will do well to recover from - it was looking like a four- or five-goaler inside the first half hour of play, so well were France playing. In truth, it could have been more, as after their sparking first half showing, the hosts played well within themselves in the second spell, having already done enough to get France 2019 off to the brightest possible start. France:          Bouhaddi; Torrent, Mbock Bathy, Renard, Majri (Perisset, 74); Henry, Bussaglia, Thiney (Geyoro, 86); Cascarino (Gauvin, 70), Diani, Le Sommer Korea Rep.:     M. Kim; H. Kim, Hwang, D. Kim, Jang; Y. Lee (M. Lee, 69), Ji, Cho; Y. Kang (C. Kang, 52), Jung (Yeo, 86), G. Lee Referee:     Claudia Umpierrez (Uruguay)