China, Spain draw to advance, join Germany as South Africa crash out

The Banyana Banyana of South Africa on Monday crashed out of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, after a 0-4 loss to Germany in Le Havre.
The result meant the world number two ranked team ended the group phase of the competition as Group B winners, with a perfect record of three victories from three games.
Melanie Leupolz opened scores in the 14th minute, before Sara Daebritz doubled their lead in the 29th minute.
Team captain Alexandra Popp extended the lead in the 40th minute, while Lina Magull put the result beyond doubt in the 58th minute.
Meanwhile, China and Spain played out a 0-0 draw in their final group game, with Spain finishing second in the group on four points with China but ahead on goals difference.
Spain dominated the first half with nine attempts on goal while China failed to take a single shot in the opening period.
But China’s defence stood firm, setting themselves up in a 4-4-2 formation and trying to hit Spain on the counter-attack with Wang Shanshan and Wang Shuang leading the line.
Coach Jia Xiuquan replaced Wang Shanshan in the second half after she appeared to be struggling with an injury and Li Yang taking her place as Spain continued to waste chances.
Nahikari Garcia had a great opportunity to put Spain ahead when she burst into the box but her effort went wide of the post, much to Spain coach Jorge Vilda’s frustration.
The result seemed good enough for both teams to advance to the last 16.
Spain join Germany to qualify directly, while China are assured of a last-16 spot as one of the four best third-placed teams.
Germany will go on to take on the third-placed team from Group A, C or D in Grenoble on Saturday.
Spain will face either defending champions U.S. or Sweden in the next round, while China must wait to see who they will play.
HOW THEY FINISHED IN GROUP B
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Germany 3 3 0 0 6 0 +6 9
Spain 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1 4
China PR 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4
South Africa 3 0 0 3 1 8 -7 0
(NAN)