England U19s 0-3 Norway U19s: Paul Simpson's side fail to qualify for U20 World Cup
Thursday 26 July 2018 17:41, UK
England U19s missed out on a place at the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Poland next summer, after losing 3-0 to Norway U19s on Thursday.
The match was a qualification play-off between the two sides who finished third in Group A and Group B at the UEFA European U19 Championship in Finland.
England made three changes from their 5-0 defeat to France in their final group game, which saw them miss out on a place in the semi-finals.
Marcus Tavernier was suspended while Conor Gallagher and Nya Kirby dropped to the bench, with Ben Brereton, Tariq Lamptey and Thomas Bayliss starting.
The game was goalless until the 75th minute when Erik Botheim put Norway in front.
Eman Markovic added a second goal in the 86th minute and Jens Petter Hauge rounded off the win.
The defeat means England will not get the chance to defend the Under-20 World Cup trophy they won in South Korea last year.
England manager Paul Simpson said: "I think we have to be honest; on the day, we were second best and Norway fully deserved their victory.
"We are very, very disappointed because we didn't do enough to get a result out of the game.
"They were physically stronger and a little bit more robust and battle-hardened than our players. They found a way to win the game.
"We go away very, very disappointed that we don't have an opportunity to go and retain the World Cup that we won in South Korea last year. But we'll dust ourselves down and learn from it."
