SAO PAULO, June 20 — England face an agonising wait to seal their World Cup fate following their near-fatal defeat to Uruguay, defender Gary Cahill said today.

England need Italy to win against Costa Rica tomorrow and Uruguay next week to have any hopes of going through to the second round following two straight defeats.

They would then have to defeat Costa Rica on Wednesday to best Uruguay on goal difference and secure second place.

“It’s one of the lowest points,” Cahill said after the 2-1 loss against Uruguay in Sao Paulo.

“I think the next four days are going to seem like forever. We just hope that Italy can perform well in the next two games and leave the last game for us to try get a win,” he said

“That’s all that we posssibly can do but we realize it’s going to be very tough,” he said.

Full-back Leighton Baines said England lost against Italy and Uruguay despite having played well.

“We haven’t been outplayed in any of the games. We have just come up short,” he said.

“It does feel like we are moving forward but you have to find ways to win games,” Baines said. — AFP