Japan made light work of Zambia to reach the quarter-finals as Group D winners.
The Little Nadeshiko raced into the lead when Hinako Kinoshita cushioned a lovely pass behind the Zambia backline, and Miharu Shinjo ran on to it and casually found the bottom corner. Momo Sato amplified the advantage from the spot after Noa Fukushima was felled.
The third came when Ririka Nezu played a slick one-two and dropped a delightful cross to the back post for Shinjo to stab home, before Mitsuki Ota headed home a Manaka Sakaki corner.
Zambia grabbed a consolation – their first goal of this tournament – when Haruko Suzuki inadvertently deflected a cross into her own net.
Zambia coach Carol Kanyemba said: “[I’m taking] a lot of positives, one of which is that we believe in the girls and the girls should believe in themselves. In every tournament, getting goals is the most important thing, so going home we need work on our striking force and reinforce the midfield, so that they can get goals for the team too.”
After the end of matches in Group D, Zambia and Brazil have been eliminated while Japan and Poland ho through to the quarterfinals of the U17 FIFA Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024.
