Australia walked over Canada 4-0 in a game in Group B at the FIFA Women's World Cup at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday. This result ensured top spot for Australia in the group with six points after three games and enabled them to reach the Round of 16 of the tournament.

In contrast, Canada have been knocked out even though they lost only one game. Nigeria, who played out a goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland on Monday, reached the knockout stages as group runners-up.

Australia's attacks were too fast for Canada's defense to cope with. Hayley Raso scored two goals by herself in the first half. In fact, it would have been a 3-0 lead for her side if their second goal was not ruled offside.

Canada nearly reshuffled their whole front field combination in the second half, but still didn't pose any real offensive threat until after 60 minutes. Meanwhile, their defense continued to go wrong, allowing Mary Fowler to add the third goal for Australia.

The stoppage time was as long as eight minutes since the referees checked the video assistant referee many times, but it didn't help Canada at all. Australia were given a penalty kick in the 94th minute and Steph Catley turned it into their fourth goal.

Earlier in the day, Japan crushed Spain 4-0 in their final game in Group C at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, on Monday. This big win enabled Japan to surpass Spain as the leader of the group. Both teams had already booked their Round of 16 spots after winning their first two group stage games.

Hinata Miyazawa scored two goals for Japan in Monday's game. She and Riko Ueki established a three-goal lead in the first half. Mina Tanaka sealed the deal for Japan by netting the fourth goal in the 82nd minute.

Japan and Spain are 11th and sixth, respectively, in the FIFA world rankings, but Spain don't have all of their best players at their disposal for the World Cup, with a handful of players having earlier withdrawn from national team duty.

Japan secured Monday's victory with a well-planned, solid performance that froze Spain's offense from the midfield. Whenever Spain moved the ball into Japan's side of the field, defenders would come quickly, making it difficult for Spanish players to turn around to the goal.

Japan's firm defense led to sharp counterattacks, which produced two of their goals. When they saw the chance, the team switched immediately to attacking mode and set up open scoring opportunities behind the opponents’ backline with fewer than four passes.

Having won all three of their games in Group C, Japan scored 11 goals with a clean sheet.

In the other game of the group on Monday, Zambia defeated Costa Rica 3-1.