MADRID, July 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Japan qualified for the round of 16 with a comfortable 2-0 win over Costa Rica on day two of the Women’s World Cup, which runs until August 20 in Australia and Nova Scotia. Zealand, while Canada suffered to beat the Republic. of Ireland by the minimum (2-1).

After beating Zambia on the first day, the Japanese team faced Costa Rica in a duel where Futoshi Ikeda’s men were very favorites and from the start the predictions were good. The Asians came out and started with the happy game that characterizes them and quickly opened the scoring through Hikaru Naomoto, and just two minutes later Aoba Fujino widened the gap, becoming the youngest Japanese goalscorer in a World Cup at 19 years and 180 days. .

In the second half, the scenario was similar, with the Central Americans suffering from the Japanese attacks, who were unable to extend their lead, thanks to a stellar performance by Costa Rican goalkeeper Daniela Solera, who after being the best against Spain is demarcated. again in his second appearance, but who could not avoid saying goodbye to their aspirations to go to the second round.

Japan were unable to extend the scoreline but became the first team in the tournament to advance to the knockout stages, playing next Monday with Spain for top spot in Group C, for which they will need the victory.

For their part, the current Olympic champion and number 7 in the world ranking, Canada, recovered from their unexpected draw against Nigeria and beat the Republic of Ireland with a lot of work, which after making their debut difficult for the Australian hosts, came back to stay on the verge of upset, although they took the lead after four minutes thanks to an Olympic goal from Katie McCabe.

Although left behind on the scoreboard, Beverly Priestman’s players dominated the first half, with more momentum than success, against a European side driven by their advantage, who based their strategy on a very physical defense. The bullying of the ‘Canucks’ paid off in injury time when a wide cross touched Megan Connolly and ended up in the net to equalize.

The mental setback of the half-time draw was too much for the Irish side, who saw their rivals come from behind early in the second half with a 53rd-minute goal thanks to a superb shot from Adriana. Leon. Finding themselves behind on the scoreboard, Ireland gave everything to tie, but the Canadian defense gave no chance and the score stood still, leaving their rivals eliminated.