The New Zealand women's football side are out of the Olympics after going down 3-0 to world No 3 France today.
They had hoped they might scrape in as one of the best third-placed finishers but needed either China to beat Sweden by two or more goals or Sweden to defeat China by four or more goals. Neither came close to happening as the two battled out a 0-0 draw that saw both of them progress to the quarterf-inals.
The Football Ferns were no match for the French in Salvador in their third and final group G match.
Eugenie Le Sommer put France ahead seven minutes before halftime when goalkeeper Erin Nayler was beaten by a long range shot which bounced back off a post for Le Sommer to drive in the rebound.
Louisa Cadamuro got the second, a free header from a cross sent in from the right 17 minutes after the restart, and Cadamuro wrapped it up from the penalty spot in the final minute. The Football Ferns lost 2-0 to the US and beat Colombia 1-0 in their earlier games.
