Australia defeated France 7-6 in a penalty shoot-out in the FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinals at Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.

Australia set a new best record in the Women's World Cup and became the second host team to go as far as the best-four in the tournament after USA in 1999.

The two sides had scoreless 90 minutes of regular time and exchanged nothing again in the 30 minutes of extra time, but it was not a boring competition. France's starting goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin miscommunicated with her defenders in the 40th minute, allowing an open goal for Australia, but Elisa De Almeida blocked the shot for Les Bleues.

Peyraud-Magnin made another lethal mistake in the 50th minute as she passed the ball to the opponents' attacker, but Australia failed to make good use of that opportunity.

France had the chance to end the game without going to the penalty spot. They scored via a corner kick in the 99th minute, but it was canceled because Wendie Renard committed a foul by taking down an Australian defender when she was competing for a header.

France made two substitutions at the end of extra time by sending goalkeeper Solene Durand and Eve Perisset to the field, apparently for the penalty shoot-out. They shot first with Selma Bacha, who saw her attempt rejected by Mackenzie Arnold.

Durand proved that manager Herve Renard made the right decision to trust her by rejecting Steph Catley's shot second round, but Perisset let the manager down, missing France's fifth shot. That save gave Arnold the chance to be Australia's hero as she was their fifth one to shoot the penalty.

Nonetheless, Arnold blew the ball to the post. The following three players of each side all made their attempts as the score reached 6-6 after eight rounds. Kenza Dali was the ninth French player to shoot and her attempt was saved by Arnold. She was given the second chance because the Australian goalie had both feet out of the goal.

Dali went for the same direction with her second attempt, and it was again rejected by Arnold. Durand dragged France back from the edge of the cliff by Clare Hunt's shot. The score remained 6-6 as the contest went to the 10th round.

Vicki Becho, who replaced Sandie Toletti in the 64th minute, hit the post with her shot. Cortnee Vine, the 10th one to shoot for Australia, blew the ball into the goal for her side to win.

Australia will play England in the semifinals on August 16.

In the other quarterfinals game on Saturday, England beat Colombia 2-1 at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Colombia had bad news early in the competition as both of their full-backs seemed to have suffered injuries. As a result, Carolina Arias was replaced by Ana Guzman in the 10th minute.

However, Colombia scored first goal in the 44th minute. Leicy Santos broke into England's box from the right wing. She hit the ball into a bizarre curve that looked like both a shot and a cross. It flew over the fingertips of England's goalkeeper Mary Earps into the goal, just like what Ronaldinho of Brazil did to David Seaman of England in the FIFA World Cup in 2002. Colombia led 1-0 in the game.

Nonetheless, Las Cafeteras' lead didn't last long. In the final minute of stoppage time of the first half, the team's goalie Catalina Perez had a disappointing butter hands moment, failing to hold the football in control with two attempts right in front of the goal. Lauren Kemp took the opportunity and shot to score, tying the game 1-1 for England.

Having been kept constantly on the run by Colombia's attacker pair of Mayra Ramirez and Linda Caicedo in the first half, England struck first in the second half. Alessia Russo scored in the 63rd minute to place her side in the leading position.

England kept the competition in solid control since then until the referee whistled to announce their victory.