Nigeria edge France, Korea sink Canada

Matchday 2 saw holders Japan and record champions USA (with three titles to their name) kick off their Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022™ campaigns with wins.

Those two tournament favourites saw off the Netherlands and Ghana respectively in Group D, and if they win again on Sunday, they will already be through to the quarterfinals. In Group C, a late goal from Flourish Sabastine gave Nigeria all three points over France and inflicted the latter’s first ever group-stage defeat.

Korea Republic grabbed top spot in their section with a victory over Canada.

Memorable moments

A perfect evening for Michelle Cooper The USA forward scored the opening goal and set up the second for Alyssa Thompson. As well as being one of the best players out on the pitch, Cooper also became the first-ever woman of colour to captain a USA team in a Fifa women’s competition. Japan start fast again The Samurai Blue have extended their unbeaten run in opening matches at U-19/U-20 final phases to seven.

That streak included two draws and five wins, four of those in a row in their most recent appearances (2012, 2016, 2018 and 2022). Rainy season lives up to its name August is known as rainy season in Costa Rica, and on Thursday it became patently clear as to why the country is so famous for its tropical downpours.

The game between France and Nigeria had to be halted for around an hour on the 21-minute mark due to a powerful storm over the capital San Jose and in particular the Estadio Nacional, making it impossible to continue. As soon as the skies cleared, though, the action got back under way.

Stats

4 - In their fourth attempt at the Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup (all of them in the group stages), Ghana once again failed to defeat USA. Prior to today’s 3-0 defeat, the Africans had drawn twice (1-1 in 2010 and 2016) and lost once (4-0 in 2012). 27 - Japan recorded 27 shots in their win over the Netherlands – more than any other team in the group stage.

Quotes

"To have a group like ours will help us at the World Cup. It’s something we’ve worked hard to create and it’s definitely one of the strengths of our team." Olivia Moultrie (USA, Player of the match)