Nathan Baker’s Under-20 World Cup adventure will last for at least one more match after England qualified for the knockout stages in Colombia, but Andreas Weimann will be heading back to Europe as Austria finished bottom of their group.

England might consider themselves a little fortunate after squeezing into the knockout phase as one of the best third place finishers thanks to three goalless draws. It’s true, it’s hardly a scintillating record; played three, drew three, scored none, conceded none, but given the numbers of players made unavailable by their clubs (including Gary Gardner) and competing in a group containing Argentina and Mexico, it’s not a bad achievement.

They did, at least, give a very good account of themselves in the Argentina game and for periods against Mexico before the game drifted firmly into dead rubber territory. The opening game against North Korea was a little disappointing, especially in the second half, but that’s not unusual for opening games in tournaments.

As a third place finisher, their Round of 16 opponent isn’t decided yet, but will either be the winner of Group C; almost certainly Spain, or the winner of Group D; Saudi Arabia or Nigeria. The Group D leaders play each other later today to decide the winner with Nigeria currently in the top spot on goals scored.

Regardless of opponent, the matches will take place on August 10th. With Spain’s collection of titles ever growing – most recently winning the European U-19 Championships – it should go without saying that they’re one to be avoided!

Austria finished bottom of their group with just a single point from their goalless draw in the opening game against Panama. They were then beaten 3-0 by Brazil and – needing a win to guarantee progress – they were soundly beaten 4-0 by Egypt in their final game on Friday.

Weimann started all three games, playing a total of 203 minutes, and I presume he’ll now be given a little time off before returning back to Villa. After missing much of last season with an ankle injury sustained in Vienna, Weimann spent the second half of the season on loan at Watford. With Bent, Agbonlahor, Heskey and Delfouneso ahead of him, another loan could be on the cards.