Firstly – today’s games…
Group C
Miyagi 19.00 – Norway v Argentina
Saitama 19.00 – Canada v DRP Korea

NORWAY v. ARGENTINA
Norway have not kept a clean sheet in five matches played in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Argentina shipped 15 goals in their first two games of this campaign. The tournament record for the most porous defence in the opening round is held by Thailand, who let in 18 at the 2004 finals.

CANADA v. DPR KOREA
North Korea scored 13 goals in their opening two games. The most goals netted by one team in the first round of the event is 15, a record set by USA in 2002 and equalled by Germany in 2006.
Heading into the last matchday, Canada are one of two teams that boast the most goalscorers, the other being Japan. Five Canadians hit the target in the first two matches.

Group D
Miyagi 16.00 – USA v Germany
Saitama 16.00 – China v Ghana

USA v. GERMANY
This is the most-played fixture in the history of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. This will be the fifth meeting between the two sides in the competition, and the first time they have crossed paths at the group stage. USA have the superior head-to-head record with three wins to Germany’s one.
Germany are the only team yet to concede a goal in the first round of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2012. In past campaigns, only Brazil and Korea DPR in 2006 managed to keep clean sheets in all of their first-round matches.

CHINA PR v. GHANA
This is the third time that China have faced African opposition in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. On both previous occasions, each time against Nigeria, the Asian side prevailed without conceding a goal, winning 1-0 in 2004 and 3-0 in 2006.
Ghana are one of two teams that are yet to find the net in this edition, the other being Argentina. Before 2012, the only teams to have failed to score a goal in the three opening-round matches were Thailand in 2004 and Switzerland in 2010.

Yesterday’s Highlights

Japan 4-0 Switzerland highlights here http://www.jsoccer.com/blog/?p=2469

Mexico and Japan each achieved their biggest winning margin in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup with 4-0 victories over New Zealand and Switzerland respectively.

Nigeria’s Francisca Ordega is the second African player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup match, after her compatriot Maureen Eke struck three times against Finland in 2006.

Korea and Mexico have both reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the second edition in a row. Japan return to the last eight after a four-year absence, having been eliminated at the first stage of the 2010 edition, while Brazil have failed to progress to the knockout phase for the second successive campaign.

Switzerland have now lost nine games out of nine in three participations at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. – Mexico’s Sofia Huerta and Japan’s Yoko Tanaka scored in each of their respective team’s three group-stage matches.