Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly started in England’s win over Iran at the u17 World Cup on Tuesday, with the team securing an important three points.

DEBRECEN, HUNGARY: Myles Lewis-Skelly of England and Marko Zebic of Croatia during the UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2022/23 Group D match between Croatia and England at Balmazújváros Városi Stadion on May 18, 2023. (Photo by Istvan Derencsenyi/UEFA)
DEBRECEN, HUNGARY: Myles Lewis-Skelly of England and Marko Zebic of Croatia during the UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2022/23 Group D match between Croatia and England at Balmazújváros Városi Stadion on May 18, 2023. (Photo by Istvan Derencsenyi/UEFA)

Following a 10-0 win over New Caledonia in their opening group game of the u17 World Cup, England took on Iran in their second match of the group stage.

Iran had defeated Brazil 3-2 in their own opening game, coming from 2-0 down to shock their opponents, so there was no excuse for England to be complacent.

Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri had both done well against New Caledonia, with the former providing an assist and drawing a red card whilst the latter scored one and assisted one.

As a result of those performances, both players were in the starting lineup for England against Iran on Tuesday.

Ethan Nwaneri playing for the England u17s (Photo via Nwaneri on Instagram)
Ethan Nwaneri playing for the England u17s (Photo via Nwaneri on Instagram)

Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be a much harder match than the New Caledonia thrashing, and Abolfazl Zamani gave Iran the lead in the 31st minute.

Nwaneri came off early in the second half, to be replaced by Justin Oboavwoduo as England chased an equaliser, and they found it through Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny four minutes later.

Just as the game looked to be heading for a draw, Joel Ndala capitalised on an error to curl in an effort from a tight angle for 2-1, winning England the three points.

Lewis-Skelly played 76 minutes of the match, coming off for Samuel Amo-Ameyaw.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND: Arsenal U21 manager Mehmet Ali makes a point to Ethan Nwaneri prior to coming on as a substitute during the Papa John's Trophy match between Northampton Town and Arsenal U21 at Sixfields on October 18, 2022. (Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND: Arsenal U21 manager Mehmet Ali makes a point to Ethan Nwaneri prior to coming on as a substitute during the Papa John’s Trophy match between Northampton Town and Arsenal U21 at Sixfields on October 18, 2022. (Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)

England now top their group going into the final game, with six points and a goal difference of 11.

Brazil won 9-0 in their own match against New Caledonia, so they sit in second with three points and a goal difference of eight.

Goal difference is ranked ahead of head-to-head record in the u17 World Cup tiebreakers, so England will top the group as long as they avoid a defeat to Brazil by two goals or more and Iran fail to win by 10 goals or more against New Caledonia.