Canada end Ireland's WWC hopes; Spain and Japan through | OneFootball

There were some mouth-watering clashes in the Women’s World Cup on Wednesday with Japan taking on Costa Rica, Spain facing Zambia and Ireland doing battle with Canada.

Canada comeback condemns Ireland to early exit

Scorers: Connolly (OG) 45+5′, Leon 53′; McCabe 4′

Canada ended Ireland’s World Cup campaign early with a comeback victory in their Group B encounter.

Beverly Priestman took the controversial decision to drop captain Christine Sinclair from her starting line-up.

A first-ever tournament goal for the Girls in Green arrived courtesy of Katie McCabe scoring direct from a fourth-minute corner.

But a stroke of fortune in the fifth minute of first-half added time saw Canada pull level through Megan Connolly’s deflection on a left-sided cross.

Adriana Leon completed her country’s comeback shortly after the interval with a close-range finish past Courtney Brosnan from Sophie Schmidt’s through ball.

Despite Ireland staging a renewed assault during the closing stages, they were unable to break down their group’s current leaders.

Vera Pauw’s side will bow out from a maiden World Cup campaign after their final outing against Nigeria in Brisbane next week.

Spain and Japan qualify as La Roja batter Zambia

Scorers: Abelleira 9′, Hermoso 13′, 72′, Redondo 69′, 85′

Spain beat Zambia 5-0 to secure their qualification to the knockout stage as Japan joined La Roja in the last 16.

Spain knew that a win against Zambia here would put them and Japan through to the knockout stages.

And they got off to the perfect start as Teresa Abelleira fired into the top corner from the edge of the area.

La Roja doubled their lead just moments later as Jenni Hermoso headed in at the back post.

Hermoso thought she had her second late on in the first half but her effort was chalked off for a clear offside.

Into the second half and Alexia Putellas was subbed off after playing her first 45 minutes since April 2022 due to injury.

Zambia were really struggling to get to grips with Spain’s pace and technical quality with Aitana Bonmati pulling the strings from midfield.

Spain got their third of the match with 20 minutes to go as Alba Redondo rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home.

The European giants soon had a fourth as Hermoso tapped in a rebound after good work down the left-hand side before Redondo got her second and Spain’s fifth late on.

Japan ease past Costa Rica to all but secure qualification

Scorers: Naomoto 25′, Fujino 27′

Japan maintained their 100 per cent start to the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Costa Rica.

Japan were looking to make it two wins out of two here in Dunedin having already dispatched Zambia on matchday one.

Costa Rica were their first opponents and looked nervy early on as the Blue Samurai attacked with pace.

Risa Shimizu had the first real chance of the game but as she looked to tap in at the back post, Aoba Fujino stole the ball off her foot and put it wide of the post.

But they did take the lead on 25 minutes as Hikaru Naomoto waltzed into the area and struck and effort into the far corner.

And just moments later Japan doubled their lead as Fujino found the near post from a tight angle.

Into the second half and the Asian giants took their foot off the gas as they all but booked their place in the second round.

Thursday’s fixtures

USA v Netherlands

Portugal v Vietnam

Australia v Nigeria