France qualifies last in U20 Women's World Cup

Havana, August 18 (RHC)-- France beat South Korea 1-0 to clinch the last ticket to the round of 16 at the 10th U20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022, at the conclusion of the group stage.

With inferior numbers in terms of ball possession, corner kicks and shots on goal, the French managed to score in the 74th minute through Esther Mbakem-Niaro to advance to the next phase in Group C.

In the same group, Nigeria, who had already had their passport in their pocket since the second of the three knockout matches, defeated Canada 3-1 to advance undefeated -three wins in as many matches- to the round of 16, while the Canadians suffered their third winless defeat.

Earlier, Japan defeated the United States 3-1 to put them out of contention for the title of the competition. Japan thus advanced to the round of 16 with three victories in as many matches in Group D.

In the other match of that group, the Netherlands defeated Ghana 4-1 to book the other ticket to the next stage with six points, the result of two successes and one defeat.

On Tuesday, on the first day of the last day of the group stage, Spain defeated Australia 3-0 and Brazil beat Costa Rica 5-0 in Group A to advance to the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Colombia and Mexico, in Group B, advanced and caused a surprise by knocking out Germany, one of the favorites to win the Cup.

This is the first time that Germany, three-time world champion in this category, has dropped out of the Cup in the knockout stage and also the first time it has lost not once, but twice in the first stage. Both failures were against Latin American teams. The X U20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022 kicked off on the 10th and will conclude on the 28th.

Costa Rica alone assumed the organization of this event, which should have been held in 2020 jointly with Panama, but was first suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then was postponed again due to the neighboring country's resignation to be a co-organizer.

Ranking Table:

Position Team Points

Group A

1 Spain 7

2 Brazil 7

3 Australia 3

4 Costa Rica 0

Group B

1 Colombia 5* 2 Mexico 5

2 Mexico 5* 3 Germany 3

3 Germany 3

4 New Zealand 2

Group C

1 Nigeria 9

2 France 6* 3 South Korea

3 South Korea 3

4 Canada 0

Group D

1 Japan 9

2 Netherlands 6* 3 United States 3

3 United States 3

4 Ghana 0

* Teams qualified for the round of 16.