Veteran midfielder Homare Sawa scored a hat trick as Japan romped into the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup with a 4-0 thrashing of Mexico on Friday afternoon.
Two goals in the space of as many first-half minutes from Sawa and Shinobu Ono put Norio Sasaki's side in control and Sawa netted her second header before sealing victory 10 minutes from time to send Japan into the last eight for the first time since the 1995 tournament in Sweden.
Japan, 2-1 winners over New Zealand on Monday, improved to six points from two games, securing a top-two finish in Group B ahead of their final game against England in Augsburg on Tuesday.