Women's World Cup 2023: How Japan decimated Spain with a stunning ball possession?

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It was a stunned Spanish Armada camp at the Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand on Monday, as Spain were decimated by Japan in the Women's World Cup.

Japan claimed the top spot in Group C ahead of Spain after condemning them to a remarkable 4-0 thrashing in the final group game.

Both sides went into the game having already qualified for the last 16 on six points apiece, with Spain leading on goal difference, but Jorge Vilda's side were left stunned in the first half as they bossed possession only to see their opponents score three times.

How Japan beat Spain

It was thorough dominance from Japan against their European opponents. Japan, who are ranked 11 in the world, took apart Spain, five places ahead of them in 6th position. Although Japan are a top-notch team, it was scary to see how they decimated Spain at the grandest stage.

Hinata Miyazawa put Futoshi Ikeda's Japan ahead with a 12th-minute strike, Riko Ueki doubled the lead just before the half-hour mark and Miyazawa then continued the ruthlessness by making it 3-0 in the 40th minute, taking her personal goal tally at the tournament to four.

Substitute Mina Tanaka fired in a superb effort with eight minutes of normal time to go to complete the rout.

And they did all of it with just 23 percent possession. The Blue Samurai only played 158 passes and four of those created four goals. Spain, despite all the possession, couldn't breach the Japanese defense once.

Spain were in complete control of the ball the whole match, yet it was still Japan who were lightning in attack and got the job done within the first half. The Asian side only manged 62 passes in the entire second half, and the Japanese women showed a lot of grit and resilience with some adept defending.

11 players of the Spanish team made more successful passes than the Japanese player who had the highest number of passes. It was defender Hana Takahashi who made 22 successful passes in the match.

Japan, with the win, topped Group C and will be taking on Norway in the round of 16 on Saturday (August 5).