Lauren James shone again with two fine goals as England put in their best performance of the Women's World Cup so far to sweep aside China 6-1 on Tuesday and march into the last 16 as Group D winners.

Alessia Russo gave the European champions the perfect start with a goal in the fourth minute and Lauren Hemp and James added two more to give England a comfortable lead at the break at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Asian Champions China, who exit in the group stage for the first time in eight editions of the World Cup, got a goal back through a Wang Shuang penalty in the second half.

James grabbed her third goal, however, before Chloe Kelly and Rachel Daly also found the net to give England an emphatic victory as they head off to Brisbane to play Nigeria on Monday for a place in the quarter finals.

Portugal exitOnly the woodwork stood between Portugal and football immortality, but manager Francisco Neto said he was still proud of his players who exit the tournament after their goalless draw with the United States.

The US, four-time winners, reached the knockout stages after holding off the debutants, as they spurned several chances to score at Auckland's Eden Park.

With the minutes ticking away in the affair, striker Ana Capeta took a shot and 42,958 fans held their breath as they watched the ball ricochet off the post and leave a tearful Portugal team to wonder what could have been.

Had it gone in, it would have handed the Americans their first group-stage exit and marked an extraordinary upset in a tournament that has been filled with surprising results. Instead, Portugal were packing their bags.

Portugal leave New Zealand with their heads held high after a credible first appearance at the tournament. They lost 1-0 to 2019 finalists the Netherlands in their opener before beating Vietnam 2-0.

'Dream scenario'

Netherlands coach Andries Jonker was delighted to see his team overcome their scoring woes after they claimed the coveted top spot in Group E and powered into the last 16 with a 7-0 hammering of Vietnam.

Jonker had said before the game that he wanted the team to finish top of the group to stay clear of red-hot Sweden in the next round, and the 2019 runners-up duly delivered, hitting four goals in the first 25 minutes to set up an emphatic win.

"In the end, it turned out the way we wanted it to," Jonker said.

"This is what you're hoping for — one opportunity after another. A dream scenario came true."

Before Tuesday's match, the Netherlands had scored only two goals in two games.

Home quite far from Queen Marta’s mind

Melbourne: After appearing in six Women’s World Cups through a glittering career, Marta may be set for her last match for Brazil if the team fall short in their danger game against Jamaica.

However, the 37-year-old great said the South Americans have unfinished business and are confident about advancing from their group.

“We are going to do our best to keep focused and confident,” she told reporters on the eve of the Group F clash at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

“Tomorrow (Wednesday)’s a decider and we don’t want to go home.”

Brazil need a win to be assured of advancing and avoiding their first group-stage exit since 1995.

France top the group ahead of Jamaica, both on four points and one ahead of Brazil, who were beaten 2-1 by the French in a thriller.

Synonymous with Brazilian women’s football for two decades, “Queen Marta”, as she is popularly called, no longer dominates her team on field quite as before.

She was brought off the bench late by Swedish coach Pia Sundhage against France and in the 4-0 drubbing of Panama.

Her influence in the changing room remains strong, though, with teammates determined to give her a proper international send-off in her last World Cup.

The all-time highest Women’s World Cup scorer with 17 goals, Marta also shares the record of scoring at five editions of the tournament with Christine Sinclair.

With 40-year-old Sinclair bowing out on Monday following Canada’s elimination, Marta can become the first player, man or woman, to score at six World Cups.

“Twenty years ago, nobody knew who Marta was. Twenty years later, we have become a reference for many women all over the world, not only in football,” Marta said.

Reuters