Women's World Cup - Group B
South AfricaSouth Africa0ChinaChina1

Women's World Cup: Li Ying scores brilliant volley as China beat South Africa

By Saj ChowdhuryBBC Sport

Li Ying scored with a brilliant first-half volley to earn China victory over debutants South Africa, who face elimination from the Women's World Cup.

The result means Group B rivals Germany qualify for the last 16, with China and Spain hoping to join them.

After an uneventful first 40 minutes, Li brought the Parc des Princes crowd to their feet when she converted Zhang Rui's pinpoint delivery.

Wang Shanshan went close with a header that hit the bar and came off the line.

South Africa looked like they could cause the Asian side problems on the counter-attack but they lacked accurate final balls.

Africa's player of the year Thembi Kgatlana, who scored against Spain in the 3-1 defeat, produced Banyana Banyana's best chance when she burst into the area and fired into the side-netting.

Her team-mate Kholosa Biyana launched an effort from 25 yards but it was easily dealt with by Jiangsu Suning goalkeeper Peng Shimeng.

South Africa will need to defeat two-time champions Germany in their final match by a handsome margin to qualify for the last 16.

'We're getting close to the top teams'

China coach Jia Xiuquan: "The victory belongs to all players - they deserve it. The battle has just begun and there will be tough games ahead. I hope to laugh at the very last moment.

"I hope the players can exhibit their true ability - their desire to win has impressed me the most over the past year. This has given me courage to lead them, and they have done a great job today.

"Today we executed our plan. The game unfolded as we planned."

South Africa coach Desiree Ellis: "They were once again magnificent. We conceded from a set-piece and lost concentration there. We had ample opportunities.

"We said it would be a battle and like a final. Tonight we showed we are getting close to the top teams. We gave as good as they gave.

"My players put their bodies on the line."

Shot-shy in Paris - the stats

  • China are unbeaten at the Women's World Cup when they've opened the scoring, winning 15 of the 16 games that they've netted first in (D1).
  • South Africa are the fourth different African team to lose their first two games in the Women's World Cup, along with Nigeria (1991), Equatorial Guinea (2011) and the Ivory Coast (2015).
  • Li Ying was China's 23rd different goalscorer at the Women's World Cup (excluding own goals); only four nations have had more scorers in the competition (Germany 34, USA 32, Norway 29, Sweden 25).
  • China's Wang Shuang created five chances for her team-mates in this game; the most by a Chinese player in a Women's World Cup game across the last two tournaments (2015 and 2019).
  • There were just four shots on target in this game (one for South Africa and three for China) - only one game has had fewer in the 2019 Women's World Cup so far (three between Argentina and Japan).

Line-ups

South Africa

Formation 4-1-4-1

  • 20Swart
  • 2Ramalepe
  • 5van Wyk
  • 4MatlouBooked at 83mins
  • 23HolweniSubstituted forSmedaat 72'minutes
  • 13Mbane
  • 11Kgatlana
  • 6Makhabane
  • 19Biyana
  • 15JaneSubstituted forMotlhaloat 82'minutes
  • 8FulutudiluSubstituted forSeoposenweat 60'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Mpuru
  • 7Dhlamini
  • 9Mthandi
  • 10Motlhalo
  • 12Seoposenwe
  • 14Makhubela
  • 16Dlamini
  • 17Smeda
  • 18Gamede
  • 21Ndimeni
  • 22Mulaudzi

China

Formation 4-4-2

  • 12Peng
  • 6Han
  • 5Wu
  • 3Lin
  • 2Liu
  • 7Wang
  • 13WangSubstituted forYangat 81'minutes
  • 20Zhang
  • 17GuSubstituted forLouat 65'minutes
  • 11Wang
  • 10LiSubstituted forYaoat 78'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Xu
  • 4Lou
  • 8Li
  • 9Yang
  • 14Wang
  • 15Song
  • 16Li
  • 18Bi
  • 19Tan
  • 21Yao
  • 22Luo
  • 23Liu
Referee:
Katalin Kulcsár
Attendance:
20,011

Match Stats

Home TeamSouth AfricaAway TeamChina
Possession
Home47%
Away53%
Shots
Home5
Away16
Shots on Target
Home1
Away3
Corners
Home3
Away7
Fouls
Home3
Away12

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, South Africa 0, China PR 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, South Africa 0, China PR 1.

  3. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Yang Li (China PR) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lou Jiahui.

  4. Post update

    Attempt saved. Yang Li (China PR) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Lou Jiahui.

  5. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Yang Li (China PR) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Yao Wei.

  6. Post update

    Yao Wei (China PR) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  7. Post update

    Foul by Jermaine Seoposenwe (South Africa).

  8. Post update

    Foul by Wang Shanshan (China PR).

  9. Post update

    Bambanani Mbane (South Africa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  10. Post update

    Corner, China PR. Conceded by Kaylin Swart.

  11. Post update

    Attempt saved. Han Peng (China PR) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Wang Shuang with a cross.

  12. Post update

    Corner, China PR. Conceded by Leandra Smeda.

  13. Post update

    Delay over. They are ready to continue.

  14. Post update

    Delay in match because of an injury Lou Jiahui (China PR).

  15. Booking

    Noko Matlou (South Africa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  16. Post update

    Lou Jiahui (China PR) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  17. Post update

    Foul by Noko Matlou (South Africa).

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, South Africa. Linda Motlhalo replaces Refiloe Jane.

  19. Substitution

    Substitution, China PR. Yang Li replaces Wang Yan.

  20. Post update

    Delay over. They are ready to continue.

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1France22006156
2Norway21014223
3Nigeria210123-13
4South Korea200206-60

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Germany22002026
2Spain21013213
3China21011103
4South Africa200214-30

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Brazil21015323
2Italy11002113
3Australia21014403
4Jamaica100103-30

D

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1England11002113
2Argentina10100001
3Japan10100001
4Scotland100112-10

E

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Canada11001013
2Netherlands11001013
3Cameroon100101-10
4New Zealand100101-10

F

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1USA1100130133
2Sweden11002023
3Chile100102-20
4Thailand1001013-130
View full Women's World Cup tables