MELBOURNE, Australia  — Hayley Raso scored her first career Women’s World Cup goals at just the right time, with a first-half brace in Australia’s 4-0 win over Canada in Monday’s pivotal group-stage finale.

The Matildas, who also got goals from Mary Fowler and Steph Catley in the second half, clinched top spot in Group B and a place in the round of 16 at the expense of the Olympic champion.

Australia needed a win to guarantee progression to the next round. The co-hosts secured a resounding win. Canada, needing to avoid defeat to avoid elimination, is out of the tournament after slipping from the lead to third place in the group behind Australia and Nigeria.

After missing two group-stage matches with a calf injury sustained on the eve of the tournament, Australia’s star striker Sam Kerr was available and on the bench but did not play in the match. The closest she got to the pitch was carrying drinks for her teammates.

In front of a vocal, pro-Australia crowd of 27,706 in Melbourne, Canada became the first reigning Olympic champion to be eliminated in group play in the subsequent Women’s World Cup.

Australia’s progression ensured this year’s Women’s World Cup would not be the first without a host nation in the knockout stage.

NIGERIA 0, IRELAND 0: Nigeria used a scoreless draw against Ireland to advance to the round of 16. The pretournament underdogs finished second in Group B behind co-host Australia.

After a relatively quiet first half, the Nigerians picked up the intensity in hopes of scoring the goal that would move them to the top of the group. A diving save from Ireland’s Courtney Brosnan in the 52nd minute kept her clean sheet intact and secured Ireland’s first point in its debut appearance at the tournament.

ZAMBIA 3, COSTA RICA 1: Lushomo Mweemba scored the fastest goal at this year’s tournament, and Barbra Banda added the 1,000th goal in tournament history, as Women’s World Cup newcomer Zambia earned its first ever win, in Hamilton, New Zealand.

The victory sent Zambia home from its first World Cup on an emotional high. Both teams had already been eliminated from the knockout stage before the match.

The Copper Queens’ opening goal, the first in their history, came after just 2 minutes and 11 seconds off Avell Chitundu’s corner kick. Mweemba lofted a volley into the roof of the net over goalkeeper Daniela Solera.

Banda scored the milestone goal in the 31st minute on a penalty kick. The referee gave the penalty after the 23-year-old striker appeared to be taken down in the box by Katherine Alvarado.

JAPAN 4, SPAIN 0: Japan scored three times from lightning breaks in the first half, once in the second and defended resolutely to trounce Spain in Wellington, New Zealand, and top Group C at the Women’s World Cup.

Hinata Miyazawa scored twice, Riko Ueki scored once and both were instrumental in each other’s goals as Japan switched swiftly from defense to counter-attack and scored from its only three attempts on goal before halftime.

Mina Tanaka came off the bench to score the last in the 82nd minute as Japan, with only 22% of possession, turned on a counter-attacking master class in front of 21,000 fans.