Guwahati: Japan suffered their first defeat in the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 by a narrow 2-1 margin to France in Group E on Wednesday.
It was France who caused the Japanese problems in the early stages at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, with Gouiri posing a particular threat.
The Olympique Lyonnais youngster opened the scoring on 13 minutes, as he powered a shot through the legs of Japan goalkeeper Kosei Tani.
Despite falling behind, Japan grew into the contest and had chances themselves.
The best of those opportunities was a free-kick effort from Keito Nakamura that took a big deflection off the France wall and flew just wide of the target.
At the other end, Maxence Caqueret was unlucky not to see a long-range strike hit the target before the half-time break.
The prolific Gouiri would score again just past the midway point of the second half, as he finished off a superb bit of inter-play with Yacine Adli in the Japanese box.
Yet, the second France goal prompted a reply for Japan, who halved the deficit through a Taisei Miyashiro penalty.
Nonetheles, the French held on for a second straight win in the competition.
Photo: FIFA/Getty Images
Source: the-afc.com