Japan all but booked their place in the Women’s World Cup last 16 as forwards Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino scored twice in three minutes in a 2-0 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday.

A sparse crowd of 6,992 spectators saw the match in Dunedin, the lowest attendance so far at the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

Japan’s passage into the knock-out stages from Group C will be confirmed later if Spain beat or draw with Zambia, who the Japanese hammered 5-0 in their opening game.

The 2011 world champions Japan sit top of the group with a perfect record of six points and have yet to concede a goal.

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