SAN JOSE: Defending champions Japan thumped the United States 3-1 to lead group D standings before the Netherlands crushed Ghana 4-1, on the final day of the group stage of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.

Manaka Maksuboko, Shinomi Koyama and Haruna Tabata scored apiece to steer Japan to a comfortable win over the US as they qualified for the quarter-final round of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands cruised past the group laggers Ghana to reach the quarter-finals as they finished second in the group standings with six points.

Liz Rijsbergen scored the opening goal of the match in the 28th minute to give the Dutch side a 1-0 lead over the opponents before halftime.

Ziva Henry then doubled the lead six minutes into the second half before Ghana retaliated after two minutes with Doris Boaduwaa finding the nets to restrict the lead to 2-1.

Rijsbergen had her second in the 65th minute to put her side back on track with Marit Auee scoring a penalty in the 85th minute to finish the game with a comprehensive lead.

Moreover, France edged South Korea 1-0, whereas Nigeria remained undefeated in Group C as they beat Canada 3-1 in their final game of the group stage.

France secured the second spot in group C while Nigeria topped the group to qualify for the quarter-finals of the event.

Japan will be facing France while the Netherlands compete against Nigeria in the quarter-finals on Monday.

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