First Matches
10 September - Germany began the defence of their crown by thrashing Argentina 11-0 in the opening match of the 2007 women's World Cup in Shanghai. Argentinean goalkeeper Vanina Correa punched the ball into her own net directly from a corner-kick in the 12th minute and repeated her action in the last minute, having let in 9 other goals in between, with Birgit Prinz and Sandra Smisek each scoring a hat-trick in Germany's record breaking 11-0 triumph.
11 September - USA came from behind to earn a draw against lively North Korea. Wambach powered home in the 50th minute, but while Wombach was receiving stitches for a head wound 8 minutes later, an uncharacteristic moment of weakness by Solo in the American goal allowed a shot from Kil Son-Hui to slip through her fingers and moments later the Koreans were ahead through Kim Yong-Ae. Heather O' Reilly found the top corner of the net in the 69th minute for a share of the points.
England were seconds away from recording a famous victory against Japan. Aya Miyama found the net for Japan from a free kick in the 55th minute, but England continued to attack and got their reward in the 81st minute when Kelly Smith beat the keeper after some good ball control and a quick turn allowed her into the box. Smith added another 2 minutes later, but Aya Miyama unleashed an unstoppable free kick to equalise with the last kick of the match.
Nigeria punished Sweden for not capitalising on their superiority with a late equaliser. After twice striking the bar in the first half, the Swedes went ahead through a Victoria Svensson goal in the 50th minute, but Nigeria drew level when Cynthia Uwax fired in with 8 minutes remaining.
12 September - Brazil showed their shooting power by scoring 5 against New Zealand with South American superstar Marta bagging a brace.
Lisa De Vanna grabbed 2 for Australia as the Matildas overcame Ghana 4-1.
Norway came from behind with two second-half goals to beat Canada 2-1.
Denmark fought back from 2 down to equalise with 3 minutes remaining only to see Song Xiaoli score the winner for hosts China a minute later.

Second Matches
14 September - Abby Wambach converted a penalty in the first half and scored another in the second half when she chested the ball down and smashed it into the back of the net in the 58th minute to give USA a 2-0 win over Sweden
In the same group, North Korea beat Nigeria by the same result with goal in quick succession; the first coming directly from a Kim Kyong Hwa corner-kick in the 17th minute and the second headed in 4 minutes later by Ri Kum Suk.
After their humiliating defeat in the opening match, Argentina almost held Japan to a goalless draw, but Yuki Nagasato struck in stoppage time to deny the South Americans their first ever point in the World Cup.
In the other group A match England held world champions Germany to a 0-0 draw.
15 September - Denmark grabbed a lifeline with a 2-0 win over New Zealand. Danish pressure paid off in the second half with goals just after the hour-mark from Katrine Pedersen and Cathrine Paaske Sorensen.
Marta twice split the Chinese defence open with Cristiane also scoring a couple for Brazil secured a place in the next round with a 4-0 win over their hosts.
Canada scored 4 times without reply against Ghana who saw Anita Amankwa smash the ball against the bar from inside the 6 yard box. The Canadian goals came from Christine Sinclair (16,62), Sophie Schmidt (55) and Martina Franko (77).
A magnificent late strike from Lisa De Vanna salvaged a point for Australia against Norway who had taken a 5th minute lead through Ranghild Gulbrandsen. The Australians now need a minimum of one point from their final group match against Canada to reach the next round.

Third Matches
17 September - Goals from Birgit Prinz and Renate Lingor (pen) gave Germany a 2-0 win over Japan and top position in group A.
Eva Gonzalez scored a bizzar own goal in the 9th minute to set England on their way to a 6-1 victory against Argentina. Alex Scott doubled England's lead 2 minutes later, and after the dismissal of Catalina Perez early in the second half Fara Williams converted the spot kick for England's 3rd. Gonzalez made amends for her own-goal with a brilliant free kick on the hour mark, but England wrapped up the match with a double strike from Kelly Smith and a late penalty from Vicky Exley.
18 September - A gaol in the 57th second from Lori Chalupny proved to be the only goal of the match as USA beat Nigeria in wet conditions to win their group and book a place in the next round where they will meet England.
Sweden got off to a perfect start when Charlotta Schelin found the North Korean net in the 4th minute, but in the 22nd minute Ri Un Suk restored parity with a belter from well outside the area. Schelin netted her 2nd of the night with a swift attack in the 54th minute, but Sweden needing to win by 3 clear goals could not enjoy their win as they were eliminated while North Korea progress to the quarter finals where they will face world champions Germany.
20 September - Ragnhild Gulbrandsen scored a hat-trick as Norway demolished Ghana 7-2 to make sure of a place in the next round. Norway were already 7 up when Ghana pulled 2 back from a cleverly taken free kick and a consolation penalty.
Melissa Tancredi scored the quickest ever goal in women's World Cup after only 32 seconds to give Canada the lead against Australia in a match the Canadians needed to win or face elimination. Australia equalised through Collette Mc Callum, but Christine Sinclair headed home what seemed to be the winner for Canada with only 5 minutes remaining. Cheryl Salisbury broke Canadian hearts deep into stoppage time with the equaliser that took the Matildas into the next round at the expense of Canada.
A narrow 2-0 win for China against New Zealand with second-half goals from Li Jie and Xie Caixia kept the Chinese nervously waiting for the result from the other group D match hoping that Denmark would fail to win against Brazil.
With Denmark needing a win, it was Pretinha who broke the deadlock in stoppage time to eliminate the Danes and send Brazil through as group leaders followed by hosts China.

Quarter-final Matches
22 September - Reining world champions Germany booked their place in the semi finals with a flattering 3-0 win over North Korea. The Koreans dominated the first half but a minute before the break Kerstin Garefrekes curled the ball into the top corner of the net against the run of play. Renate Lingor scored with an almost identical shot in the 67th minute, a minute after Angerer had made a brilliant save to deny a Korean equaliser. Annike Krahn put the match beyond North Korea with the 3rd for Germany in the 72nd minute.
The USA eased through to the semi finals with a comprehensive 3-0 victory against England. The English girls held USA until the 48th minute when Abby Wambach forced the ball in with a header. Shannon Boxx beat Rachel Brown with a low shot in the 57th minute and when the English keeper misjudged the bounce of a long ball 3 minutes later, Kristine Lilly was on hand to walk the ball in for the 3rd.
23 September A spirited performance by Australia was not enough to deny the brilliant Brazilians a place in the semi- finals. Formiga curled the ball in off the bar from distance in the 4th minute and when Marta tucked away a spot kick in the 23rd minute Brazil may have thought they were home and dry, but once again Lisa de Vanna popped up to intercept a back pass and round the keeper and give Australia hope in the 36th minute. Lauren Colthorpe levelled the score in the 68th minute with a well timed header, but Cristiane riffled in a beauty with 15 minutes left on the clock to give Brazil a place in the top 4.
A 32nd minute goal from Isabell Herlovsen condemned China to a quarter-final exit in front of their home crowd. Norway go on the meet Germany for a place in the final.

Semi-final Matches
26 September Germany powered past Norway to claim their place in the final of the 2007 women's World Cup. Trine Ronning inadvertently headed a Birgit Prinz cross into her own goal with 3 minutes of the first half remaining. Germany doubled their lead when a shot from Kerstin Stegemann took a deflection and spun in off the post in the 72nd minute; and 3 minutes later Martina Müller took advantage of a weak back-pass to score the 100th goal of the tournament. Germany came close to scoring a 4th, but Fatmire Bajramaj saw her shot come off the crossbar. The Germans are yet to concede a goal in this year's World Cup.
27 September The USA suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at the hands of the brilliant Brazilians. Leslie Osborne stooped to head a corner kick into her own net in the 20th minute, and 7 minutes later Marta ran into the box beating Briana Scurry with a low shot to double Brazil's lead. As Brazil continued to push forward in stoppage time an innocuous coming-together between Cristiane and Boxx resulted in the referee somewhat harshly issuing Shannon Boxx - who had already been booked - with a red card, leaving the Americans with an even steeper mountain to climb in the second half. Cristiane fired home the 3rd in the 56th minute and with 11 minutes of the match left, Marta dazzled the American defence with her skills flicking the ball past Tina Ellerston, weaving her way into the box to score her second of the night, inflicting upon the Americans their heaviest even defeat. Brazil will face Germany in the final on Sunday.