How Japan defeated Norway 3-1 to cruise into the World Cup quarter-finals

Full-time. Japan 3-1 Norway. Japan are through to the quarterfinals and will play the United States or Sweden at Eden Park next Friday night.

FT: Japan 3-1 Norway

Japan book their spot in the #FIFAWWC quarterfinals 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/voquIkoWBv
— Inside Pitakwa (@PitakwaJobzilla) August 5, 2023

Japan impress again with Hinata Miyazawa’s late goal sealing the win and their place in the last eight.

Norway’s tournament is over. After a shock defeat to the Football Ferns in their opening match, they still made the round of 16 but have been eliminated at the first hurdle of the knockout stages.

Delight for Japan, who thoroughly deserved to win tonight. They dominated from the off, and while it’s true that their first two goals came about as the result of defensive mistakes, they forced those errors. And their third goal was sublime. Hinata Miyazawa now leads the chase for the golden boot with five goals. Norway go home with the consolation of a fine header by Guro Reiten; the 1995 winners defended staunchly but came up short in the end.

The football resumes tomorrow after yesterday’s day off. The next two matches in the round of 16 include a blockbuster between Sweden and the United States in Melbourne. Don’t miss it.