Two goals in 2 minutes help Japan beat Costa Rica 2-0 at Women’s World Cup

Published July 26, 2023 12:13 am

By ELLEN McINTYRE
Associated Press

DUNEDIN, New Zealand (AP) — Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino scored two minutes apart in the first half to lead Japan to a 2-0 Women’s World Cup victory over Costa Rica on Wednesday, and the Japanese qualified for the knockout stage later when Spain beat Zambia. Japan and Spain, 4-0 winners over Zambia, were the first teams in the tournament to move on to the round of 16. They are tied for the top spot in Group C with six points each. Japan and Costa Rica kicked off in front of a sparse crowd of 6,992 at Dunedin Stadium, a huge differential from the record sales of over 1.5 million tickets for this year’s tournament.

Article Topic Follows: AP National Sports

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