Arsenal’s Jack Porter kept a clean sheet as England won 3-0 against Egypt to progress to the knockout stages of the u17 World Cup on Monday.
Arsenal duo Jack Porter and Marli Salmon are away with England at the u17 World Cup, and Porter has started every game at the tournament so far.
Following a disappointing opening 3-0 defeat to Venezuela, England needed to bounce back quickly. They did just that, winning 8-1 against Haiti to put themselves in a strong position to progress.
A draw against Egypt on Monday would have been enough to guarantee progression, but only as one of the third-placed teams. A win would see England finishing in the top-two and getting an easier game in the knockouts.
Porter started once again, and this time he made three saves to keep a clean sheet in a 3-0 victory. England ended up finishing second behind Venezuela, who drew with Egypt 1-1 and beat Haiti 4-2 to end the group stage with an undefeated record.
The draw for the knockout rounds is based entirely on performance, with no random element to it, and England’s six points and +7 goal difference will be ranked against other group runners-up to determine their round-of-32 opponents.
If the group stages ended now, England would be the sixth-ranked group runners-up (of the 12 groups), meaning they’d be drawn against the third-ranked group runners-up – currently South Korea.
But with four groups still to play their final round of fixtures, that’s still very much subject to change.
Arsenal defender Salmon is yet to feature on the pitch for England, so he’ll hope to get a chance in the remaining knockout fixtures.
Arsenal also have a player at the tournament with the Republic of Ireland, with recent signing Victor Ozhianvuna representing his country. Ireland have secured qualification to the knockouts as well, but they still have one more game to determine their group finish and ranking.