DUNEDIN, New Zealand (AP) — Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino scored two minutes aside within the first half to steer Japan to a 2-0 Women’s World Cup victory over Costa Rica on Wednesday, and the Japanese certified for the knockout stage later when Spain beat Zambia.

Japan and Spain - 5-0 winners over Zambia — had been the primary groups within the event to maneuver on to the spherical of 16. They are tied for the highest spot in Group C with six factors every, and seeding can be decided by the end result of their Monday match.

Japan and Costa Rica kicked off in entrance of a sparse crowd of 6,992 at Dunedin Stadium, an enormous differential from the document gross sales of over 1.5 million tickets for this 12 months’s event. High fan turnout in Auckland and Sydney — there have been 117,000 mixed at opening evening in these cities - have been partly offset by a lot smaller crowds in Dunedin, the place attendance has dropped with every match from an preliminary excessive of 13,711.

Las Ticas stored the stress excessive all through the match, however the Japanese dominated with precision in ball dealing with and passes.

Mina Tanaka handed the ball to Naomoto, who dribbled previous a Costa Rican defender earlier than scoring on outstretched goalkeeper Daniela Solera within the twenty fifth minute. Fujino then snuck the ball in on an angle into the far left nook of the online. Costa Rican defenders Maria Paula Elizondo and Mariana Benavides didn't cease Fujino from scoring.

KEY MOMENTS

Japan got here near scoring earlier within the match off the rebound of a save by Solera. Hinata Miyazawa collided with Japanese teammate Aoba Fujino as they each went in for the kick, inflicting them to overlook the shot.

Costa Rican midfielder Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez, the star of the crew, didn’t come into the sport till halfway via the second half. She missed her crew’s final match towards Spain as a result of an undisclosed harm.

Solera went down halfway via the second half after taking a shoulder to the top, however she remained within the recreation.

WHY IT MATTERS

Japan has now certified for the knockout stage for the fourth time within the nation’s historical past.

Japan gained the event in 2011, beating the United States, and misplaced to the Americans in a rematch in 2015.

Costa Rica was eradicated from rivalry with its second loss within the group stage.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

“There are some players who are at the World Cup for the first time, but they are so energetic and that makes me so happy. The team is working together as one unit,” Japan head coach Futoshi Ikeda.

“Honestly, it makes me a little emotional because, I don’t know, sometimes people within our own country, they’re the harshest critics for us. But to see people who come and support (us) all the way here, it means the world to us,” Rodriguez on fan assist for Costa Rica.

WHAT’S NEXT

Japan faces Spain within the New Zealand capital of Wellington in a match to resolve the winner of Group C and knockout spherical seeding. Japan might want to win that match to seize first place within the group as a result of Spain has the sting in objective differential.

Also on Monday, Costa Rica travels to Hamilton to play Zambia.

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Ellen McIntyre is a pupil within the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

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