Last night was a great night in Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium, where the England and Spain both fought against each other for win the U17 FIFA World Cup. After 90th minute England have won the World Cup and there’s no doubting they deserved it. It was a poor start at the back but the constant attacking threat from the likes of Foden and Hudson-Odoi meant goals were likely and Spain could not cope with everything Cooper’s side could offer.
After a shaky start, in which it seemed Spain would repeat their victory over England in the under-17s European Championship earlier this year, a seemingly unstoppable England comeback saw them score five goals without response.
Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster led the way with a goal just before half-time after Spain had hit England with two classic counters to go two up, via Sergio Gomez.
Brewster ended the tournament as the Golden Boot winner with hat-tricks in the quarter and semi-finals, and his strike in the final was his eighth goal in the competition. It was a sultry night in Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium during which it was clear England had made many new friends over the two weeks of the competition.
England looked to be playing a 4-3-3 that sometimes seemed to morph into slightly a more effective 3-1-3-3, allowing Chelsea youth team defenders Marc Guehi and George McEachran to marshal the space between midfield and the back three.
With an attendance of 66,684 the week after Diwali, the festival of lights, the crowd were here for a cracker, and what they got was a match that pulsated with scintillating play by England, and for a while at least by Spain too.