The prolific 25-year-old was stunning in Australia’s 4-1 win over the Reggae Girlz, scoring two headers in the first-half, before finding the back of the net twice more with her left foot after the break.

In doing so, Kerr not only joined United States forward Alex Morgan, with five goals, on the top of the tournament’s scoring charts but became the first Australian player to score a World Cup hat-trick.

She is also the first player, man or woman, from any AFC nation to hit the back of the net four times in a senior World Cup match.

The Matildas victory means they will now meet Norway in the Round of 16, after they finished in second place on the group table, narrowly ahead of Brazil, who beat Italy 1-0 in the other Group C match.

Kerr scored twice in each half to help the Matildas to their second successive win, with her sensational display taking her level with Alex Morgan as the competition’s top scorer on five goals.

With both sides already safely through to the Round of 16, the clash at Stade de Nice has less riding on it than many of the other group stage finales in France, but the title of group winners, and with it a lower-ranked knockout stage opponent, remains a compelling prize.

Of added importance is Japan’s ongoing desire to improve. The 2015 runners-up bounced back from a dour 0-0 draw with Argentina to produce a much brighter display in their follow-up 2-1 win over Scotland and match to match improvement, Takakura believes, is important in tournament football.

The Steel Roses survived 23 Spanish shots at goal, with goalkeeper Peng Shimeng turning in a Player of the Match performance to take her side to the Round of 16 with a 0-0 draw against Spain.

With over 40 years of experience in the game, and not having a reputation for wearing his heart on his sleeve, Jia surprised many - including his star 21-year-old shot-stopper - by showing his emotions after the final whistle.

Both sides finished their final group stage fixture on four points, with Spain qualifying as group runners-up due to their marginally superior goal difference, while China PR’s points tally means they cannot be overhauled as one of the four best third-placed teams.

In 2015, it was Kumagai's Japan who emerged victorious in the semi-finals in Canada, a stoppage-time Laura Bassett own goal giving them a 2-1 win over Bronze's England on their way to a 5-2 defeat in the final against the United States.

Prior to that, it was England who triumphed 2-0 in the 2011 group stage in Germany, but on that occasion Japan went on to win the trophy while England went out in the quarter-finals.

That was before Bronze had made her senior international debut and the right-back is confident England are better equipped than ever to go all the way after several near misses in recent years.

Yoon Duk-yeo’s side conceded penalties at the beginning of each half, overshadowing a spirited overall display which produced 23 shots at goal to eight, with Yeo Min-ji netting her side’s first goal of the tournament.

Norway’s win takes them through to the knockout stage as Group A runners-up, while France’s 1-0 win over Nigeria in their match, held simultaneously in Rennes, confirmed the hosts as group winners.