Esmee Brugts went supersonic on Tuesday with two long-range stunners as the Netherlands rediscovered their scoring touch in a crushing 7-0 win over Vietnam, reaching the Women's World Cup knockouts in style and locking up top spot in Group E.
The Dutch had only scored once in each of their two previous games but, knowing goal difference could decide the group winners, were 4-0 up inside 25 minutes, with Brugts' curled effort the pick of the bunch.
Her second goal in the 57th minute was a carbon copy of the first and put the Netherlands 6-0 ahead before Jill Roord also bagged her second of the night to wrap up the emphatic win, the biggest of the tournament so far.
"I'll surely be looking back with a happy feeling," Brugts said. "I scored two but the rest of the team also played well.
"The confidence level is the same as before the game. We wanted to be ranked first in the group. We managed to do so, and that's nice."
The Netherlands were expected to finish behind the United States in the group but the defending champions were held to a goalless draw by Portugal in Auckland and ended in second place in Group E, two points off the summit.
The 2019 runners-up will travel to Sydney for their last 16 tie on Sunday and are likely to face Italy, who sit in second place behind Sweden in Group G.
Although they were missing all-time top scorer Vivianne Miedema due to injury, the Dutch had five different goalscorers against Vietnam, who had already been eliminated after losing their first two games.
Lieke Martens, Katja Snoeijs, Roord and Danielle van de Donk also scored in the first half and the Netherlands had a staggering 42 attempts at goal overall, including 17 on target.
In contrast, Vietnam managed five shots but none on target.
Dominique Janssen launched a wonderful ball from defense into Vietnam's penalty area, where Martens lobbed goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh to put the Netherlands ahead after eight minutes for her 60th international goal.
Snoeijs slotted in the second three minutes later after being set up by Van de Donk, and Brugts soon added another from distance, her strike from outside the box nestling into the top right corner.
Roord, who had twice fired wide twice, finally got on the scoresheet after volleying in Janssen's cross.
Roord drew a fantastic save from Kim Thanh just before halftime, but Van de Donk was on hand to tap in the rebound.
After Brugts' superb sixth with another fierce strike, Roord, who had hit the crossbar, headed in the seventh with seven minutes remaining.
"I was afraid that the gap would be even bigger," Vietnam coach Mai Duc Chung said. "We have tried our best but it is clear that we cannot close the gap between us and the Netherlands.
"We have conceded 12 goals in our three games, so our level is low even compared to other Asian teams. But I think our efforts have been great. In this journey, I am satisfied with the spirit of the team."
Despite being one of the pre-tournament favorites considering their "defending champions" tag, the United States Women's National Team (USWNT) struggled to a startling 0-0 tie with Portugal to advance to the knockout round of the Women's World Cup.
However, they finished second in Group E to Netherlands who had been on steroids earlier.
The Dutch won twice in addition to their draw with the United States, while the U.S. team won once and tied two games.
The U.S. will play Sunday in Melbourne against the Group G winners, likely Sweden, ranked third in the world.
Ines Pereira made six saves for Portugal, including a stop on an Alex Morgan shot from the center of the box in the 84th minute.
Portugal had no shots on goal, but Ana Capeta hit the right post on a shot in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
Needing only a tie to move on, the U.S. could not shake the Portuguese (1-1-1, four points), who had to win to advance.
The only other time in nine World Cups that the U.S. did not win its group was in 2011.
Entering the day, the U.S. and the Netherlands were tied atop Group E with four points, but the Americans held the goal-differential tiebreaker.
Now, they will rue a lackluster 3-0 win over Vietnam in the opener followed by a 1-1 tie with the Netherlands.
The U.S. (1-0-2, five points) faced the prospect of being eliminated in the group stage for the first time in the nine World Cups with a loss and the Dutch defeating Vietnam.
It almost happened in the first minute of second-half of stoppage time when Capeta nearly produced one of the biggest upsets in Women's World Cup history.
There were two changes to the U.S. lineup from the first two matches.
Rose Lavelle started in the midfield for Savannah DeMelo, while Lynn Williams got the nod up top over Trinity Rodman.
Williams had all four U.S. shots on goal in the first half, including a strike from the top of the box just before the break.
Lavelle's second yellow card of the tournament in the 39th minute means she will miss the next match.
Lauren James scored a brace and had three assists as European champions England stormed into the knock-out stages of the women's World Cup with a 6-1 demolition of China, with Denmark also through from the group.
James set up the first from Alessio Russo in the fourth minute in Adelaide and the second from Lauren Hemp in the 26th before netting the third herself off a free-kick into the bottom left corner in the 45th.
Asian champions China pulled one back in the 57th from Wang Shuang's penalty after a Bronze handball.
But their comeback hopes were short-lived because James struck again in the 65th before setting up Chloe Kelly in the 77th, with Rachel Daly completing the rout in the 84th.
England finished atop Group D with a maximum nine points, three clear of the Danes whose captain Pernille Harder grabbed the 100th goal of the tournament from the penalty spot before Sanne Troelsgaard completed a 2-0 victory over Haiti in Perth.
England's last-16 opponents are Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday, while the Danes are up against co-hosts Australia the same day in Sydney.
