BRISBANE, Australia — What a rambunctious night in Australia’s third-largest city, when the Brazilian fans sang a cappella, the French players exulted, the stadium shook with Brazilian yellow all around the premises and the World Cup felt downright electric. France’s 2-1 win that heated up the mild winter didn’t begin to cover it. The energy outside and inside Brisbane Stadium seemed to double as still another emblem of women’s soccer’s great whoosh forward.
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Fans streamed up nearby Caxton Street in droves past crowded bars, then watched a match of near-even possession and whipsawing charges.