GOA, India — The United States could not dig out of an early two-goal hole and went on to suffer a 4-1 elimination defeat by England in the quarterfinals of the Under-17 World Cup Saturday.
Rhian Brewster connected for a hat-trick for England, which moved onto the semifinals.
In fact, Brewster took advantage of some American errors in the 11th and 14th minutes to boost the European side to a 2-0 advantage.
On the first goal, Philip Foden got around his marker and sent a cross into the six-yard box. Goalkeeper Justin Garces punched the ball away but it went straight to Brewster, who was trailing the play. He sent a one-time volley into the roof of the net.
Only three minutes later, Brewster and his teammates celebrated another goal. England capitalized on a transition opportunity after gaining control of the ball at midfield. Rushing upfield, Foden combined with Brewster again, sliding a pass behind the defense for the striker to run on to. Garces charged out of the net, but Brewster arrived just in time to lift the ball over him into the right side netting for a 2-0 margin.
That woke up the U.S., which pushed up and had several close encounters, including a Josh Sargent attempt that rebounded off the crossbar in the 23rd minute.
England added to its lead behind a Morgan Gibbs-White goal in the 64th minute. This time Brewster turned provider, finding his countryman in stride just above the U.S. box. Garces cut down the angle, getting a hand on the shot but it wasn’t enough to keep it out of the lower, left-hand corner.
Sargent, the U.S.’s U-17 World Cup scoring hero, pulled one back for the U.S. in the 72nd minute. The ball played into the left side of the England penalty area for speedy substitute Sergiño Dest to chase. Beating his man to the ball, Dest put a shot on target from a wide angle that keeper Curtis Anderson could only parry across the face of goal where a crashing Sargent tapped it home at the back right post.
Brewster put an exclamation point on the English win after Dest was red carded for trip an English player on an obvious scoring opportunity deep into stoppage time. He converted the ensuing penalty kick for his third goal just as the referee blew the final whistle.
Scoring Summary:
ENG – Rhian Brewster 11th minute
ENG – Rhian Brewster (Philip Foden) 14
ENG – Morgan Gibbs-White (Rhian Brewster) 64
USA – Josh Sargent 72
ENG – Rhian Brewseter (penalty kick) 90+5
Lineups:
USA: 1-Justin Garces; 14-Akil Watts (17-Bryan Reynolds, 81), 6-Chris Durkin, 4-James Sands, 3-Chris Gloster; 11-Andrew Carleton, 8-Blaine Ferri (18-Indiana Vassilev, 73), 16-Taylor Booth (13-Sergino Dest, 55); 7-Ayo Akinola, 9-Josh Sargent (Capt.), 10-Tim Weah
Subs Not Used: 2-Jaylin Lindsey, 5-Tyler Shaver, 12-CJ Dos Santos, 15-George Acosta, 19-Jacobo Reyes, 21-Alex Budnik
Unavailable: 20-Chris Goslin
Head Coach: John Hackworth
ENG: 1-Curtis Anderson; 4-George McEachran, 5-Marc Guéhi, 6-Jonathan Panzo, 7-Philip Foden (12-Nya Kirby, 85), 8-Tashan Oakley-Boothe, 9-Rhian Brewster, 14-Callum Hudson-Odoi (16-Daniel Loader, 90+1), 15-Joel Latibeaudiere (Capt.), 18-Steve Sessegnon, 19-Morgan Gibbs-White (20-Conor Gallagher, 78)
Subs Not Used: 13-Josef Bursik, 21-William Crellin, 2-Tim Eyoma, 3-Lewis Gibson, 10-Angel Gomes, 17-Emile Smith-Rowe
Head Coach: Steve Cooper
Stats Summary: USA/ENG
Shots: 20/20
Shots on Goal: 4/12
Saves: 8/3
Corner Kicks: 8/10
Fouls: 19/7
Offside: 0/1
Misconduct Summary:
USA – Taylor Booth (caution) 35th minute
ENG – Conor Gallagher (caution) 78
USA – Sergino Dest (sent off) 90+5
Officials:
Referee: Turpin Clement (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Danos Nicolas (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gringore Cyril (FRA)
Fourth Official: Shukralla Nawat (BHR)
