Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly came off the bench to help England find the goal they needed to top their u17 World Cup group despite defeat to Brazil.

After a 10-0 win over New Caledonia and a 2-1 win over Iran, England went into their final u17 World Cup group game against Brazil knowing that a win, a draw, or a defeat by one goal would likely be enough to see them topping the group.

A defeat by two goals would see Brazil overtake them, whilst Iran could technically also have ended up as group winners, but only by reaching double figures themselves against New Caledonia and hoping Brazil won 2-0.

With Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri dropping out of the starting lineup, it initially looked like Brazil might manage that two-goal win.

Kaua Elias Nogueira and Da Mata helped them to a 2-0 lead by the 54th minute, at which point the Arsenal duo were introduced from the bench.

Just 10 minutes after the substitutions, England had pulled one back. Joel Ndala won a penalty, which he converted for 2-1, and the team saw out the remainder of the game with no further goals.

With Iran only winning 5-0 in the other game, England topped the group, but Brazil and Iran are guaranteed to progress to the knockout stages with them.

Brazil finished as the group runners-up, whilst Iran’s total of six points as a third-place finisher comfortably ensures they’ll be one of the four teams from the six groups to progress in third place.

Ryan Garry’s England side will play their round-of-16 match on November 22nd, against the third-place finisher from either Group A or Group B, depending on the remaining results. That would be either Indonesia or Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan are the more likely option, as two of the three possible permutations remaining would result in England playing Group B’s third-place finisher.

The third permutation is very unlikely to occur, requiring very specific results.

Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri will be pushing to return to the starting lineup for that match next Wednesday.