Japan defeats Spain to advance to the round of 16 at the Women’s World Cup with a three-game group stage sweep.
Japan defeated Spain 4-0 behind a two-goal, one-assist performance from Hinata Miyazawa in the final Group C match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, on Wednesday.
Japan, who had already qualified for the Round of 16 with back-to-back wins, ended the group stage on a high note, moving to the top of the group with nine points.
After the men’s national team defeated Spain 2-1 in the group stage of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Japan Football has established itself as the ‘nemesis’ of soccer giants Spain with a cool victory at the Women’s World Cup.
Spain, who had already secured a spot in the round of 16 with two straight wins, suffered their first defeat and finished the group stage in second place with six points.
Japan will play Group A runner-up Norway and Spain will face Group A leader Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Both matches will be played on August 5.
Japan, who won the 2011 tournament in Germany and finished runner-up in 2015 in Canada, will be looking to win their second World Cup title.
With both teams performing well in their previous matches, a hard-fought battle was expected, but once the game started, it was a one-sided affair in Japan’s favor.
The Japanese were quick and precise with their attacking trio of Miyazawa, Naomoto Hikaru, and Ueki Riko.
Japan took the lead in the 12th minute through Miyazawa.
Jun Endo’s penetrating pass from the left was collected by Miyazawa, who rattled the net with a calm shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Two Spanish defenders were caught off guard by Miyazawa’s quick feet.
In the 29th minute, Ueki’s shot from the left side of the goal area off a pass from Miyazawa bounced off a defender’s foot and over the keeper’s height into the net to make it 2-0.
Miyazawa finished off Ueki’s pass with a right-footed shot in the 40th minute for her first multi-goal game.
Miyazawa, who also scored twice in the first game against Zambia, increased her tournament tally to four goals and moved into sole possession of the top scoring spot.
Four other players, including Germany’s Alexandra Pope and Brazil’s Ari Borges, are tied for second with three goals.
Mina Tanaka’s goal in the 37th minute sealed the 4-0 victory for Japan.
Tanaka broke away from three defenders from the right flank and split the goal with a left-footed shot from the front of the goal area. 꽁머니
The match between Zambia and Costa Rica, which had already been eliminated from the Round of 16, ended with a 3-1 win for the Zambians.