FIFA U17 World Cup: England 3-1 Brazil, 5 talking points

The first semi-final of the FIFA U17 World Cup was played at the Salt Lake Stadium and witnessed England defeat Brazil 3-1.

It was a highly anticipated match in Kolkata and fans waited in online ques to buy tickets for the first ever semi-final of a FIFA World Cup to be played in India.

The game was originally slated to be played in Guwahati but had to be shifted at the last moment to Kolkata due to poor pitch conditions which were caused due to heavy rainfall.

With this victory, England moved into second FIFA age-group World Cup final this year. Brazil, on the other hand, will be cursing themselves for not being able to please the VYBK crowd.

Let's take a look at the main talking points of the game

#1 Rhian Brewster, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi

The Liverpool striker had a night to remember as he took home the match ball after scoring a hattrick, his second of the tournament. Brewster is now the tournaments top goal scorer with seven goals. Brewster apart, Phil Foden and Hudson-Odoi were also impressive and completely bossed the wide midfield channels.

Foden, the Manchester City midfielder who is highly rated by Pep Guardiola, was the main creative hub for England. He couldn’t get an assist to his name but he played all the key passes for England. While Brewster had relatively easy tap-ins, Foden and Hudson-Odoi ran riot on the flanks and they were too much to handle for the Brazil defence.

#2 Brazil's capitulating midfield and defence, as well as coach Amadeu’s folly

Brazil were overrun in midfield

The Brazilian midfield performed decently till the 29th minute, but after Brenner missed the chance of the game (where he just had the keeper to beat but shot it agonisingly wide), the Brazilian midfield was completely overrun by the English.

The English players were given ample space and time to turn and pass which really turned the tide in favour for the English. A lack of coordination between the Brazilian defence and attack was also seen, more overall three of England's goals came from darting runs through the flanks and none of the wingers or midfielders tracked back properly to help out the full-backs.

It seemed the Brazil coach really made a blunder by playing a three-man midfield as they were completely overrun by their opponents, and Amadeu should have taken a leaf out of Japan’s game against England and could have covered the English midfield like the Japanese did.

#3 Brazil’s poor finishing

Lincoln was left to rue his misses that effectively cost Brazil the match

Brazil, without any doubt, had the best chance of the game when Brenner received a defence-splitting pass from midfield and had a free run till the penalty box where he just had the England 'keeper Anderson to beat but put his effort wide. That aside, Lincoln, Paulinho and Alan all missed some really good chances and had Brazil converted those chances we could have had a different story to tell now.

#4 England’s cover and co-ordination

England's defence, led by captain Joel Latibeaudiere, kept things tight all evening

The coordination of this English team was there for everyone to see, the way the midfield covered for the defence and the way the defence co-ordinated with the midfield to start attacks from the back was one really pleasing aspect of the Young Lions' play.

England always seemed to have two or more people behind the ball and there was always a man covering for another. This sort of coordination made it difficult for the Brazilians to play their usual style of football. Off the ball, the amount of pressure that the England players put on Brazil was really impressive and they showed a flaw of this Brazilian team which is when closed down quickly, this Brazilian team fail to play fluid football.

#5 England’s substitutes were more effective and acclimatised

The likes of Kirby and Smith-Rowe also joined in on the act as substitutes

The England substitutes all had more than 90 minutes of playing time at the World Cup, whereas all the Brazilian substitutes had less than 80 minutes of playing time. This was England’s fifth game in Kolkata and the players were more acclimatised to the conditions in Kolkata. The England subs were also more impactful than their Brazilian counterparts as the Smith-Rowe managed to grab an assist late on.