Kigali — The final day of group fixtures at Nigeria 2009 concluded with four teams confirming their ongoing participation at the tournament.

USA and United Arab Emirates entered the final day of Group E action locked together on three points, safe in the knowledge that the winner of their match-up would claim a berth in the knockout stage.

A workmanlike USA secured a 1-0 win, only for the UAE team to also progress by the slimmest margin imaginable. The Asian side reach the knockout stage for the first time at this level, finishing ahead of other third-place teams by virtue of the Fair-Play ranking after all other criteria was equal.

Things were far less complicated for group leaders Spain who maintained their 100 per cent record by easing past Malawi. The European heavyweights claimed a comfortable 4-1 win over the tournament debutants.

In Group F, Korea Republic claimed their top-16 status with a controlled 2-0 win against a disappointed Algeria.

FIFA U-17 World Cup

Results

Malawi 1-4 Spain

USA 1-0 United Arab Emirates

Korea Republic 2-0 Algeria

Italy 0-0 Uruguay

Round of 16 fixtures

Wednesday

Argentina vs Colombia

Turkey vs UAE

Switzerland vs Germany

Italy vs USA

Thursday

Spain vs Burkina Faso

Iran vs Uruguay

Mexico vs Korea Repc

Nigeria vs New Zealand