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Rhian Brewster hat-trick sends England into Under-17 World Cup semi-finals

Rhian Brewster scores England’s second goal.
Rhian Brewster scores England’s second goal. Photograph: Boris Streubel - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster scored a hat-trick as England beat the USA 4-1 in Goa to secure their first place in the U17 World Cup semi-finals.

England were 2-0 up inside quarter of an hour after Brewster scored twice in three minutes, and dominated the first half. Wolves’ Morgan Gibbs-White added a third on 64 minutes, before Josh Sargent pulled one back for the USA – but Brewster made sure with a penalty in added time.

England face a semi-final on Wednesday against the winners of Sunday’s Germany versus Brazil quarter-final, with the manager, Steve Cooper, confident they will be ready for either side. “We’ve played both in the last 12 months,” he said. “They are two really good teams – but whoever comes through, we will be prepared for them.”

Cooper said England would “stick to our plan: one step at a time. We’ve already created a little bit of a history back in England, but we will just recover tomorrow and stick to our processes.”

His team’s performance extends a brilliant run for England’s development teams in recent months, following the U20 World Cup victory and the Under-19s’ European Championship win.