Will Packwood came on as a sub for USA in their latest match in the U17 World Cup finals.

Blues midfielder Will Packwood got his first taste of World Cup finals action last Sunday when his country progressed to the knockout stages of the U17 tournament being staged in Nigeria.

The 16-year-old played the last 17 minutes of USA's 1-0 win over United Arab Emirates which was enough to see Wilmer Cabrera's side through to the last 16.

USA recovered from losing 2-1 in their opening group game against Spain to qualify courtesy of two single goal successes, the first over Malawi.

Packwood was an unused sub for the first two matches but he will hope to see some involvement in tomorrow's second round clash against Italy.

"We have been getting better in every match," said coach Cabrera.

"We just need to put the ball on the ground and play, that's the key. And when we don't have the ball, we have to be organised and fight to get it back as quickly as possible."