Haruka Osawa and Sara Ito provided two goals apiece, while Tomoko Tanaka and Yuzuki Yamamoto also got on the scoresheet as the Little Nadeshiko returned to their devastating best to completely outclass their opponents.

With four points from their opening two matches, Japan are now a single point away from sealing a sixth consecutive appearance in the knockout stage, with their fate to be determined in Tuesday's final group stage clash against Mexico.

Futoshi Ikeda's side showed technical and tactical quality but lacked the polish required to break their opponents down in a match of few clear cut chances, failing to win their opening fixture in the tournament for the first time since 2010.

Winners of the competition in 2014, and runners-up two years later, Japan began their 2018 campaign with a customary emphasis on precise passing and movement, but their organised opponents made it difficult for the Asians to find a way to goal.

DPR Korea had nearly twice the attempts on goal, but the Germans were far more clinical, with a superb brace from Gia Corley, who scored in ether half, underlining their ruthlessness.

The Bayern Munich forward's two goals were bookended by Charlotte Bluemel's opener and Sophie Weidauer's superb fourth, with the sole Korean strike coming from Yun Ji-hwa.

Song Sung-gwon's side began the match in a manner befitting the reigning Asian and world champions at this age level, and produced a number of early opportunities, but they were caught napping by a German set-piece routine, which ultimately led to Bluemel scrambling home the opening goal after 14 minutes.

Appearing in the competition for the first time since 2010, Hur Jung-jae's side were well beaten by a Spanish side whose commanding display, featuring three second-half goals, was among the most impressive seen in Uruguay thus far.

FC Barcelona's Claudia Pina provided two goals, while Eva Navarro and Paola Hernandez scored one apiece for Spain, whose dominance was clear in nearly every statistical category.

Gwak Ro-yeong struck the woodwork early, but it took current European U-17 champions Spain just 17 minutes to take the lead, when Navarro's off the ball run down the left hand side went unnoticed by the Korean defence, leaving the Spanish captain with the simple task of beating Kang Ji-yeon from 10 yards.