China remained unbeaten in Group F of the FIFA U-20 Women\u2019s World Cup Poland after playing to a 0-0 draw against Nigeria while North Korea booked their place in the knockout stage after defeating Costa Rica 4-0 on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Korea, the reigning champions produced a dominant victory over ten-player Costa Rica to earn their second win in Group E which confirmed their spot in the Round of 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Korea looked to have taken an early lead when Kang Ryu Mi tapped home from a corner, but a VAR review confirmed she had strayed into an offside position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Han Chol Hak’s side continued to dominate and got the breakthrough soon after, with neat interplay leading to captain Pak Ok I squirming a shot under goalkeeper Ashley Quesada from just inside the box in the 26th minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samantha Pitty was then sent off for a deliberate handball in the area right on the stroke of half-time. Pak stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick, but was foiled by a superb Quesada save.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chon Yon A doubled North Korea’s lead 10 minutes after the break with a well-placed header, before the No10 added a third through an 87th minute penalty after she was hauled down in the area by Fabiana Alfaro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further gloss was added to the scoreline as Ho Kyong put the finishing touch on a flowing move with an inch-perfect curler in stoppage time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having opened their campaign with an emphatic 5-0 win over New Caledonia, China will feel they could have taken maximum points after twice being denied by the crossbar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The East Asian side almost made the perfect start when Li Chenyu rattled the woodwork after just 82 seconds as China immediately took the game to their African opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nigeria, looking to bounce back from their opening defeat to Spain, gradually settled into the contest with Seimeyeha Janet Akekoromowei proving a constant threat, but China’s defence stood firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China continued to look dangerous after the break and were denied by the woodwork for a second time when Xue Sifan’s effort struck the crossbar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither side, however, could find the breakthrough as China PR followed up their impressive opening victory with another point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The East Asian side remain firmly on course for a place in the knockout stage as they seek to advance beyond the group phase for the first time since reaching the final in 2006. They will face already-qualified Spain next on Saturday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nigeria, meanwhile, kept alive their hopes of maintaining their record of reaching the knockout stage at every edition since the inaugural tournament in 2002, with the Falconets to face New Caledonia next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China remained unbeaten in Group F of the FIFA U-20 Women\u2019s World Cup Poland after playing to a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[430],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-15614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t