Thursday 22 November 2018, 14:19

Last two spots in semis at stake

  • Two more tickets to the semi-finals at stake

  • Ghana in free-scoring form, Germany strong at the back

  • Mexico and Canada have never reached the last four

Four teams, two matches, one objective: the semi-finals. Montevideo provides the stage as Ghana tussle with Mexico and Germany take on Canada for a place in the last four. While Ghana and Germany both reached the semi-finals in 2012 - Germany also did so at the inaugural tournament in 2008 - Mexico and Canada would be treading uncharted territory if they were to progress.

The games

Third quarter-final: Ghana - Mexico Fourth quarter-final: Germany - Canada

What you need to know

Record in sight: After winning all three of their group games, Ghana would set a new African record at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with victory over Mexico. No African team has ever previously managed to win four consecutive matches at the tournament.

Nose for goal: One of the reasons for Ghana's success so far is Mukarama Abdulai, who has scored six goals at Uruguay 2018 already. That tally has pulled her level with Jane Ayieyam as her country's all-time top scorer at the tournament, even if Ayieyam's goals were spread across two competitions. Only one player has ever found the net more frequently than Abdulai in the group stage of an U-17 Women's World Cup: Germany's Kyra Malinowski netted seven times in 2010, scoring a hat-trick against Mexico and four against South Africa.

Third time lucky?: Mexico have reached the quarter-finals of the competition for a third successive time. After losing 2-0 to Japan at the 2014 edition and 2-1 to Venezuela in 2016, will they make it into the last four this time around?

Unbeaten run: History is on Germany's side ahead of their assignment against Canada, as they are undefeated in all three past meetings at the U-17 Women's World Cup. Germany won 3-1 in the 2008 quarter-finals, while the group games in 2014 and 2016 respectively ended 2-2 and 1-1.

Alison Gonzalez of Mexico celebrates after scoring 

Players to watch

Alison Gonzalez (MEX): In netting the equaliser in Mexico's 1-1 draw with Japan, Gonzalez became the first player to score against the Asian side in 513 minutes of U-17 Women's World Cup action.

Wiebke Willebrandt (GER): Germany's goalkeeper made sure of a clean sheet in her side's last group game against USA with an outstanding performance and a series of spectacular saves with her hands and feet.

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