France opened their Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 campaign in perfect fashion with a sparkling 4-0 win over Colombia in Belo Horizonte.

One of the pre-tournament favourites, France raced out to a 3-0 half-time lead and were rarely troubled in earning a dose of revenge for a shock defeat against the South Americans at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

The match began in disastrous fashion for Colombia, as Carolina Arias turned Eugenie Le Sommer’s low cross into her own net inside 70 seconds.

And Le Sommer got on the scoresheet by the quarter-hour mark with an easy headed finish after Camille Abily’s lofted shot ricocheted back off the crossbar.

Les Bleues looked in the mood and dominated possession for lengthy periods, although Colombia’s Liana Salazar clipped a long-range effort just over the crossbar midway through the first period.

Midfielder Abily underlined her quality in the shadows of half-time by curling a perfect free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the area.

France controlled the tempo throughout the second half against a tiring and occasionally frustrated Colombia, and it was no surprise that the lead was eventually extended with eight minutes remaining.

It was another inch-perfect free-kick that did the damage, with Amel Majri this time firing in from distance with a sublime strike that is sure to feature on the tournament highlights' reel.

France will now face reigning champions USA on Saturday in a mouth-watering group-stage fixture, while Colombia and New Zealand have little margin for error when they contest the latter match in Belo Horizonte.