Black Princesses eye historic U-20 Women's World Cup knockout place

Black Princesses defender Alexandra Tay says reaching the knockout stage of the Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup for the first time would mean everything to Ghana.

Ghana revived their hopes of progressing from Group C with a 3-1 victory over South Korea after opening their campaign with a disappointing 3-0 defeat by Ecuador.

The Black Princesses now need to beat France in their final group game to secure a place in the knockout stage for the first time in the history of their 16-year participation in the tournament.

"It would mean everything [to reach the Round of 16 for the first time]. We have a lot of people from our federation who have come to support us, and we know that they are expecting that from us," Tay told Fifa.

"I think this is a group that is hungry to do that. It's been 16 years that we've been in this competition and we haven't done it, and it's something that we're looking to do now."

Tay believes the team's ability to communicate positively has helped them recover from their opening-day setback.

"This team, in terms of the team culture, has always been really strong. From our coaches, the mantra is communication always, but it's positive communication, and it's never negative communication, so we know how to be constructive as well.

"We try to encourage each other and lift each other up."

Ghana will face France at Arena Sosnowiec on Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 16:00 GMT.

Victory would see the Black Princesses make history by reaching the Round of 16 for the first time.