Zambia and Costa Rica saw their hopes of advancing to the knockout stage end Wednesday, becoming the first teams to be eliminated from the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Costa Rica opened Wednesday’s slate of matches with a 2–0 loss to Japan after Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino scored twice in the span of two minutes, starting with Naomoto’s opening goal in the 25th minute.
In the following game, Spain thrashed Zambia, 5–0, thanks to a ninth-minute goal from Teresa Abelleira and two goals apiece from Jennifer Hermoso and Alba Redondo.
