Morocco boss Pedros relishing tie with native France

Morocco have reached the last 16 on their Women's World Cup debut

Morocco coach Reynald Pedros is eyeing a shock win over a France team he "knows perfectly" in the last 16 of the 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup.

Morocco are ranked 72nd in the world by Fifa, 67 places below France, who are unbeaten in this World Cup so far.

"I know this France team perfectly, which is an advantage," said Pedros.

"They are a very strong team with experienced, top-level players."

Pedros, 51, played alongside the likes of Zinedine Zidane in the France team that reached the semi-finals at Euro 96 in England.

In recent years he has made a name as a coach in the women's game, spending two seasons in charge of Lyon, winning back-to-back league and Champions League titles. During his time with Les Fenottes, he managed Wendie Renard, Eugenie Le Sommer, Selma Bacha and Amel Majri ,all of whom are likely to feature for France in Adelaide on Tuesday.

Pedros has now carried his success into international coaching, with Morocco - the first Arab nation to compete at the finals - claiming a shock second place in Group H ahead of two-time winners Germany, who had beaten them 6-0 in their opening game.

Former Nantes and Marseille player Pedros feels his side are not done yet and is putting personal affiliations aside for Tuesday's tie.

"I am French but my heart is with Morocco," he added. "It's three years we've been working hard to get to these incredible objectives. It's not a problem for me to [try to] win against France.

"I will do everything for us to qualify for the quarter-finals."

Morocco also has a number of dual-national squad members, while six of their players are in the ranks of French clubs, including defender Nesryne El Chad (Lille) and forward Anissa Lahmari (Guingamp), who scored the winner against Colombia that saw them qualify from the group stage.

There are managerial links the other way too, with current Les Blues coach Herve Renard having formerly coached the Morocco men's team for three years, including at the men's World Cup in Russia in 2018.

"I have amazing memories from when I was in Morocco," said Renard, who was hired by France in late-March after Corinne Diacre was sacked in the wake of a player revolt.

"I have amazing friends [in Morocco]. But now we need to focus on football. Even when we have a friendly [spirited] match, you still need to win the game so we are here to qualify [for the quarter-finals]."

France's best result at a World Cup finals is fourth in 2011, and they have reached the last eight in each of the last two editions in 2015 and 2019.

With top-10 ranked teams the United States, Germany, Brazil and Canada all eliminated, they will fancy their chances of going deep in the tournament.

The winners will face co-hosts Australia, who beat Denmark in the last 16 on Monday.