Goals from Stefanie Sanders either side of a Saskia Matheis strike helped the German side stroll to a 3-0 victory in Group D.

After a tense first-half where neither side were able to break the deadlock, Sanders converted a pinpoint pass from Anna Gerhardt to give Germany the lead three minutes into the second.

They doubled their advantage on 67 minutes through Matheis, who was on hand to follow up after Gerhardt’s shot was saved, before Sanders added a third in the dying stages.

It was their second straight win following a 3-1 success over Venezuela in their opening match at the tournament and they occupy top spot in the group.

A draw with South Korea will be enough for Germany to reach the last eight and they will also qualify if they lose and Mexico fail to beat Venezuela.

The South Koreans were also in impressive form as they scored three times towards the end of the second half to overcome Venezuela.

The Asian team had to wait until 13 minutes from time for the breakthrough as Yeji Namgung converted from the spot, which came shortly after Minjung Kim had kept the scores level by saving Mariana Speckmaier’s penalty.

Venezuela were made to rue the miss as Chaerin Han and Seongmi Kim found the net late on to hand South Korea their first win of the tournament.

In Group C, the United States proved too strong for New Zealand as they recorded a 3-1 victory.

The Americans seemed to have the three points wrapped up early on as they led 2-0 after just eight minutes thanks to goals from Ashley Sanchez and Mallory Pugh.

Isabella Coombes pulled one back for New Zealand with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining before Ally Watt fired home to end any hopes of a comeback.

In the other match to be played today, Ghana were denied a crucial victory as substitute Clara Mateo came off the bench to score a last-gasp equaliser for France in a thrilling 2-2 draw.