England eliminated as Italy slip up against Costa Rica
England’s World Cup has come to a premature end after Italy lost 1-0 against Costa Rica.
England have been eliminated from the World Cup after Costa Rica’s 1-0 victory against Italy, combined with their own 2-1 losses against Italy and Uruguay.
End of the road
Stuck on zero points after losing both of their opening two games in Group D, England were relying on Italy to defeat Costa Rica and Uruguay in order to keep even the faintest glimmer of hope. But a first-half headed goal from Bryan Ruiz gave the Ticos the edge, and they doggedly refused to give it up all match. With Costa Rica on six points and Italy and Uruguay -- who play each other in the third round -- on three each, there’s no combination of results that will see England advance to the knockout rounds.
It’s an embarrassing exit for Roy Hodgson, Steven Gerrard and company, but the biggest story is probably that Costa Rica are now in pole position to top the group and avoid running into Colombia in the first knockout round.
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