England will face Italy in the last 16 as Group E winners after a stalemate with Iraq that consigns the Asians to elimination.
Ian Foster’s Young Lions were already assured of their place in the knockout stage but made sure of top spot, and staying in La Plata, with a controlled performance that should, in truth, have yielded all three points.
Wasteful finishing was a big reason why the English emerged instead with a simple share of the spoils, with Liam Delap in particular guilty of having left his shooting boots at the team hotel.
An early miskick in front of goal when it looked easier to score set the tone for the young Manchester City striker, who later saw a penalty saved by Hussein Hasan after a foul on Samuel Edozie was spotted by the Video Assistant Referee.
Edozie himself had the ball in the net after 32 minutes only for an offside flag to curtail English celebrations after he had raced through, rounded Hasan and slotted home.
Iraq improved considerably in the second half and would have claimed their first goal of this Fifa Under-20 World Cup™ but for a crucial save by Teddy Sharman-Lowe.
England’s substitute keeper provided a telling block with his legs after the lively Youssef Amyn burst clean through on to a superb, defence-splitting pass from Ali Jasim.
THE STAT
20
In what was their 20th match at this competition, Iraq were involved in a 0-0 draw for the first time. They have now lost their last four U-20 World Cup matches without scoring.