Morocco through to Women's World Cup last 16 after dramatic finish

Morocco's women's team continued their dream run Down Under as they stormed into the last 16 of the World Cup on Thursday.

The Moroccans defied their underdog status to upset Colombia 1-0, while fellow last-16 hopefuls Germany could only muster a 1-1 draw with South Korea. The result means the Atlas Lionesses go through as Group H runners-up behind the Colombians.

Anissa Lahmari scored on the stroke of half-time to put Morocco on course for the next phase. Morocco move on to meet France in Adelaide and Colombia play Jamaica in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Morocco are the first Arab side to compete at the tournament and consequently the first to reach the knockout stages. They will now look to emulate or even surpass their men's team who stunned one and all by making it to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

It was a fairytale result for Morocco, who rebounded from a humiliating 6-0 drubbing on their debut against Germany with wins over South Korea and Colombia.

In front of 17,342 fans, the only goal of the match arrived moments before half-time when Ibtissam Jraidi was impeded in the box by Daniela Arias.

Captain Ghizlane Chebbak's penalty kick was spectacularly saved by lunging goalkeeper Catalina Perez, who dived to her left. But Sakina Ouzraoui pounced on the deflection and her nifty pass found Lahmari who made no mistake from close range.

There was some positive news for Colombia. Linda Caicedo played the entirety of the 1-0 loss against Morocco to allay concerns about the Real Madrid star's health.

There were still some concerning moments in the game at Perth Rectangular Stadium, where the 18-year-old forward looked well below her best.

Caicedo went down in pain in the first half when Benzina caught the top of