GEORGIA Stanway had to watch from the sidelines as her England team-mates bowed out of the Under-17 Women's World Cup with a 3-0 defeat to Japan in Thursday's quarter-final.

Barrovian Stanway's three goals in the group stages helped the Lionesses reach the knock-out stages as Group C runners-up, although two yellow cards meant she was forced to sit out the clash with the defending champions through suspension.

The last eight encounter in Irbid saw the Japanese take the lead after just three minutes, with Jun Endo poking home from close range on the rebound.

Player-of-the-match Riko Ueki put the Little Nadeshiko two goals up at the interval when she finished off a counter-attack in added time at the end of the first half.

And Ueki's second clinched victory for Japan 10 minutes from time, setting up a re-run of their 2014 final against Spain in the last four.

But despite the defeat, England manager John Griffiths was proud of the efforts from Stanway and the rest of the squad over the course of the tournament in Jordan.

“The goal that we conceded so early on was a tough one to take, and the one before the break put us in big trouble,” Griffiths told FIFA.com. “Japan are the reigning champions and they have a lot of experience.

“In the run-up to this tournament, we played 16 matches and lost only two, to Germany, the European champions, and to Japan, the world champions.

“We’re heading home having learned some valuable lessons. Gaining experience is just the first step for this generation of players.

“I’m proud of them, because they went about their business in a very mature manner. I’m convinced they’re going to make great progress in the future.”