Japan beats Spain 4-0, and Costa Rica loses to Zambia

Group C

Japan – Spain 4-0

The Swiss national team will face its Spanish counterpart in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday. The Spaniards finished Group C in second place after a 4-0 defeat to Japan.

Like the Asian team, the Spanish team did not concede any goals during its victories in the first two matches in the group. Against Japan, they conceded three goals within 28 minutes in the first half. The goals were scored 1-0 (12th) and 3-0 (40th) by Hinata Miyazawa, who had already scored twice in the 5-0 win over Zambia. Spain failed to score despite having 77 percent of the ball.

Although the Swiss reached the Round of 16 as group leaders and without conceding a single goal, they will qualify for the Round of 16 on Saturday morning at 7am as outsiders. The Spanish team is led by two-time World Cup winner Alexia Putellas, a teammate of Ana Maria Crnogorcevic at FC Barcelona. Putellas returned to action in April after suffering a torn cruciate ligament.

However, the Spanish women's record at the World Championships is more than meager. When they first competed in 2015, they were eliminated in the preliminary round, and in 2019, the round of 16 meant the final leg. The last three European Championships have ended in the quarter-finals. In addition, 15 players called for the resignation of coach Jorge Villeda last fall, who therefore does not have the best possible team in the current World Cup. These are just good conditions. Now we also have to overcome the setback we suffered against Japan.

The Swiss national team last played in an international tournament against Spain in March 2019. At that time, it suffered a 0-2 defeat. A lot has happened since then.

Costa Rica – Zambia 1:3

In the match between Costa Rica and Zambia, the last two teams in Group C competed for third place. Zambia won the match 3-1. Loshomo Mwemba (third), captain Barbara Banda (penalty kick, 31st), and Rachel Kundanange (90+3) scored for the Africans. Banda scored the 1,000th goal in the women's final from a penalty kick. Melissa Herrera scored the Central American national team's goal in the 47th minute.

Panda celebrates her goal, the 1,000th goal in the Women's World Cup.Image: Cornerstone

Group B

Canada – Australia 0:4

In the second group, Olympic champion Canada must return to its homeland despite obtaining four points from the first two matches. A draw against Australia was enough for the North American team to qualify, but they lost 4-0. Hayley Raso scored the first two goals for the co-hosts. As Nigeria could get no more than a 0-0 draw against Ireland, who had previously had no points, Australia won the group.

(cat/sda)