All five European sides at the women’s FIH Junior World Cup have advanced to the quarter-finals following the group stages in Santiago.
Belgium stormed through their group in some style as they swept aside Germany 6-0 in game one and then were pretty much assured of advancing following an 8-0 win over Canada.
They completed a third successive win with a dramatic 3-2 result against India, Astrid Bonami’s penalty stroke with eight minutes to go deciding the outcome – her sixth goal of the competition to date.
Germany bounced back from their opening defeat to the Belgians to defeat India 4-3, coming back from 2-0 and 3-2 down, thanks to second half goals from Laura Plüth and Carolin Seidel.
And they secured second place in Pool C with an 8-0 victory over Canada, Plüth and Lilly Stoffelsma both netting hat tricks.
The Netherlands topped Pool A on goal difference after a first day 2-2 draw against Australia. The Dutch followed up with a 6-0 win over South Africa and then a 7-0 success against host side Chile 7-0.
England impressed in Pool D with a 5-0 victory over New Zealand in game one and then came back from 2-0 down to defeat USA 5-2 with goals shared between Claudia Swain, Beth Alexander, Maddie Long, Maddie Axford and Scarlett Spavin.
It put them in pole position going into their final group game and while they lost 4-1 to Japan, it was enough to see them advance. The Japanese followed them through but only after a heart-stopping battle between USA and New Zealand.
The Americans needed a five-goal win to overtake Japan and they came close following three goals in under two minutes to move 6-2 clear but they could not find one more in the dying seconds.
Spain completed the European run of quarter-finalists. They pushed Argentina all the way in a thrilling first fixture but ultimately fell 1-0; they followed up with an 8-0 success against Zimbabwe to leave them needing a draw or better against Korea.
In the end, they got the win with Sara Carmona scoring before half-time and then Maria Saenz de Santa added a corner. They missed a stroke chance to move further clear and Korea made it lively in the closing minutes when they pulled one back but a 2-1 win confirmed Spain’s place in the last eight.
Those quarter-finals take place on Wednesday with the Netherlands facing Spain, Belgium meeting Japan and Germany up against England.
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