Canada enjoyed a comfortable victory over New Zealand to secure their place in the last 16 of the World Cup.
Canada dominated in Grenoble, with record scorer Christine Sinclair hitting the crossbar on 18 minutes.
Jessie Fleming then broke the deadlock just after half-time before Nichelle Prince ensured Canada maintained their winning start.
The 2015 hosts face the Netherlands in their final group game to see who will go through as winners of Group E.
New Zealand, who have never gone beyond the group stage and are now 14 games without a World Cup win, had only two shots on target and lost right-back Catherine Bott to an early hand injury.
Moments later a Canada corner saw Sinclair head against the woodwork, with Kadeisha Buchanan’s follow-up being scrambled off the line.
Canada, who drew 0-0 with New Zealand in the group stage in 2015 before losing to England in the quarter-finals, had 12 shots in the first half but only two were on target.
Fleming struck within three minutes of the restart, though, as Prince was released down the left wing before cutting back for Fleming to side-foot inside the far post.
Sinclair spurned a chance to double Canada’s lead two minutes later, shooting over from 12 yards, before Prince fired a 20-yard strike straight at Erin Nayler.
The New Zealand goalkeeper then produced a fine save to push Prince’s glancing header over the bar on 72 minutes, but the Houston Dash forward was on hand to poke in the rebound after Sinclair headed against the post with 11 minutes left.
| Teams in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup | |
|---|---|
| England | Italy |
| Germany | France |
| The Netherlands | Canada |
‘I can trust the players, we’re getting better’
Canada boss Kenneth Heiner-Moller: “We were creating chances and had more shots than against Cameroon, so it was a positive. We just need to find a way through. It was a great performance by the team and I am proud to be their coach.
“It is a great team, I can trust the players. Players from the bench are contributing and the team are getting better. That is what teams do in tournaments.”
New Zealand boss Tom Sermanni: “We were outplayed all over the field. We never got into any kind of rhythm or into any situation where we won things to get momentum. We were beaten by the better team.
“We have one more game to play and to try to win it. Hopefully it could be enough to put us through to the last 16.”
Another Canadian shut-out – the stats
- Canada are unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions in 2019 (seven wins), conceding only once.
- Canada attempted 12 shots without scoring in the first half – the most of any side during this tournament – but netted with just their second attempt of the second half.
- Nichelle Prince is the 10th different player to both score and assist in a game at this World Cup.
- Canada’s Janine Beckie is the only player to attempt at least 10 shots and create at least 10 chances at this World Cup (10 and 12 respectively).
- Canada are the only side yet to concede a single shot on target, shutting out both Cameroon and New Zealand.
What’s next?
Canada play their final Group E game against the Netherlands on Thursday (17:00 BST) in Reims, while New Zealand face Cameroon in Montpellier at the same time.
