Raso scores twice as co-host Australia advances, knocking Canada out of the Women’s World Cup

MELBOURNE, Australia — Haley Raso scored her first career Women’s World Cup goals at just the right time, with a first-half brace in Australia’s 4-0 win over Canada in Monday’s pivotal group-stage finale.

The Matildas, who also got goals from Mary Fowler and Steph Catley in the second half, clinched top spot in Group B and a place in the round of 16 at the expense of the Olympic champion.

After missing two group-stage matches with a calf injury sustained on the eve of the tournament, Australia’s star striker Sam Kerr was available and on the bench but did not play in the match. The closest she got to the pitch was carrying drinks for her teammates.

NIGERIA 0, IRELAND 0: Nigeria used a scoreless draw against Ireland to advance to the round of 16. The pre-tournament underdogs finished second in Group B behind co-host Australia.

After a relatively quiet first half, the Nigerians picked up the intensity in hopes of scoring the goal that would move the them to the top of the group. A diving save from Ireland’s Courtney Brosnan in the 52nd minute kept her clean sheet intact and secured Ireland’s first point in its debut appearance at the tournament.

Nigeria came closest to breaking the deadlock when Toni Payne found the head of Uchenna Kanu. A diving save by Courtney Brosnan was needed to keep the game scoreless.

ZAMBIA 3, COSTA RICA 1: Lushomo Mweemba scored the fastest goal at this year’s Women’s World Cup and Barbra Banda got the 1,000th goal in tournament history as Zambia rolled. The win helped Zambia close its first tournament appearance with a victory.

Both teams had already been eliminated from the knockout stage before the match.

The Copper Queens’ opening goal was their first in World Cup history and came after just 2 minutes and 11 seconds off Avell Chitundu’s corner kick. Mweemba lofted a volley into the roof of the net over goalkeeper Daniela Solera.

JAPAN 4, SPAIN 0: Japan scored three times from lightning breaks in the first half and trounced Spain to win Group C.

Hinata Miyazawa scored twice, Riko Ueki scored once and both were instrumental in each other’s goals as Japan turned defense to counter-attack quickly and scored from its only three attempts on goal before halftime.

Mina Tanaka came off the bench to score the last in the 82nd minute as Japan finished the group stage on a high and without conceding a goal.