Ro Un Hyang was the toast of the East Asian side after her strike in the 69th minute kept DPR Korea in the title hunt as they await the winners of the Spain and England in the semi-final.

USA got a scare in the fifth minute when a Katie Scott challenge on Choe Il Son initially resulted in a penalty, however after video review the call was overturned.

Things then settled into a chess match, with Korea DPR continuously asking questions, but the USA defence answering every time to become the first team in the tournament to hold the joint-record holders scoreless in a first half.

Things stood on a knife’s edge as play trickled into the final half-hour, with neither side giving an inch and the two goalkeepers largely untroubled.

But the moment of magic would finally arrive and it came off the sparkling left foot of Ro, who took an attempted clearance from the USA defence and hammered a volley to give Korea DPR a lead they held until the final whistle.