ISTANBUL, Turkey — Striker Harry Kane scored a second-half equalizer to earn England a 1-1 draw against Chile in the Under-20 World Cup on Wednesday.
Kane collected a pass from midfielder Ross Barkley in the 64th minute and beat goalkeeper Dario Melo with a low shot at the near post to give England its second point in Group E after drawing 2-2 against Iraq in its opener.
It was a hard-fought result for coach Peter Taylor’s team, which narrowly escaped defeat when Bryan Rabello’s strike in the closing minutes hit the crossbar.
Nicolas Castillo had put Chile in front from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute with his second goal of the tournament. A late tackle by Daniel Potts brought down Chile winger Angelo Henriquez as he dribbled his way in from the right. Referee Alireza Faghani of Iran didn’t whistle immediately, taking several seconds to make up his mind. It was the second penalty against England this tournament.
After another foul, Potts later received his second yellow card of the competition and will miss England’s decisive group match against Egypt on Saturday.
Iraq was playing Egypt in the group’s late game on Wednesday.
England struggled to keep position in the first half and only created danger with two shots from well outside the area, with Barkley watching his effort go just wide while Kane’s shot was saved by Melo.
Chile remained in control for the early stages of the second half but failed to create clear chances. The South Americans then lost the plot after Kane’s equalizer.
England started to turn up the pressure and came close to scoring when substitute Alex Pritchard headed the ball straight at Melo from close range in the 82nd minute.
In Group F, Uruguay bounced back from its opening defeat against Croatia to beat New Zealand 2-0 with goals from Giorgian De Arrascaeta and Nicolas Lopez.
After four minutes, De Arrascaeta slotted home a free kick from just outside the penalty box after he was fouled by New Zealand’s Tim Payne.
Uruguay missed several opportunities to double the score before Lopez tucked home the rebound after his initial effort hit the post in the 75th.
Uzbekistan and Croatia, which have three points each in Group F, were playing each other later Wednesday.