Sweden produced a breathtaking display of attacking football to thrash Thailand 5-1 in Nice and book their place in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup.

Thailand, who had fallen to a record 13-0 loss against USA in their opener, conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes as they struggled to win aerial battles against a much taller Swedish team.

The centre-back Linda Sembrant broke the deadlock for Sweden with a thumping header from an Elin Rubensson free-kick, before Kosovare Asllani doubled the lead after pouncing on a rebound.

Fridolina Rolfö hammered in a third from outside the box as Sweden hit three goals in the first half of a World Cup match for the first time since a third-place playoff win over Germany in 1991. Lina Hurtig and Rubensson added further gloss to the scoreline in the second half – the latter slotting home a penalty with the final kick of the game – while the Thailand forward Kanjana Sung-ngoen raced clear to pull one back in the closing stages.

It was a much improved display from Sweden, who peppered the Thailand goal with 34 attempts, after a laboured 2-0 victory over Chile in their opening match.

The Thailand squad bowed to their fans after the final whistle. The game had the smallest announced crowd so far at this tournament with 9,354 fans in attendance in Nice.