Wednesday 21 November 2018, 15:10

Spain win Group D after rout of Canada

Spain finished as Group D winners at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Uruguay 2018 following a 5-0 rout of Canada in Montevideo, thanks to a brace from Irene Lopez and goals by Salma Paralluelo, Claudia Pina and Eva Navarro.

Spain knew that a win would see them finish as Group D winners and they were completely dominant from the first whistle. They needed just nine minutes to open the scoring when Navarro dribbled down the right flank before picking out Paralluelo at the far post. Paralluelo, the youngest player in the Spain side, controlled the cross before shooting into the bottom corner past Canada goalkeeper Kayza Massey.

Their next goal was created from the left flank, as Nerea Nevado played in a diagonal, perfectly-weighted through pass to Paralluelo, who then cut back a pass to find Lopez for a first-time finish past Massey.

Pina made it three, with Lopez turning provider. Spain defended very high and prevented Canada from playing out of the back. Lopez again found Pina with a cut-back pass, allowing Pina to finished confidently into the bottom left corner.

In the second half, La Rojita picked up where they left off. Lopez scored her second goal of the afternoon five minutes into the half, shooting from just outside the penalty area and finding the bottom corner of the net via a slight deflection.

As Group D winners, Spain will face Korea DPR in Colonia Del Sacramento on 24 November in the quarter-finals, while Canada will meet Germany in Montevideo on 25 November.

Player of the match: Irene Lopez (ESP)