Final 8 decided

DEFENDING under-20 women’s soccer World Cup champions Germany will play France in Friday’s quarterfinal.
In the other Friday playoff match, the US meet Mexico. The other two quarterfinals will be played on Thursday, with North Korea meeting Spain and Japan playing Brazil.
Germany topped group D with a 2-0 win over South Korea at the Sir John Guise Stadium last night.
The Germans and North Koreans, who were in group A, won three-from-three, and along with France, were the only undefeated sides in the 16-team Cup after group rounds, which ended last night. However, France won one game and drew two.
After a scoreless draw with the US, followed by a come-from-behind 2-2 draw with Ghana, France finally showed their strength in a 2-0 victory over New Zealand yesterday.
The loss by the Kiwis ended their cup campaign which had started in promising fashion with a 1-0 win over the Ghanians.
French star Delphine Cascarino and Clara Mateo were solid and scored three goals between them, while Madeline Gier and Stepfanie Sanders each scored twice for Germany.
The tournament’s leading goal-scorers at the end of the group stage were Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius, whose four goals  came in the same match — the 6-0 win over hosts PNG.
The other players to feature on the scoresheets at this tournament with four goals were Gabi Nunes (Brazil), Mami Ueno (Japan) and North Korea’s Kim So Hyang.
Mexico pulled through a typically bruising affair with Venezuela to win 3-2 last night.
The Americans, who won the cup twice and face Mexico on Friday, are favoured but the rivalry between the two nations is expected to bring the best out of the Mexicans.
The PNG team broke camp yesterday after being together for most part of the year.