England facing Rugby League World Cup exit after failing to score enough points against Papua New Guinea in Wollongong
Brian McDermott's side now need Tonga to beat Samoa by more than 46 points on Sunday
Group B-C is a combined six-team pool - England, in Group B, are facing the three Group C teams: Tonga, France and Papua New Guinea
All results are combined into one six-team table, with the top two reaching the semi-finals
Final matches in combined group are in Parramatta on Sunday: Lebanon v France (06:50 GMT) and Tonga v Samoa (09:05 GMT)
England are out of Women's Rugby League World Cup after losing 24-6 to Samoa in Group A decider: Match report
Earlier, England began Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup defence with 98-18 win over Wales; Ireland beat USA 110-10
FT: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
Well, that was all rather disappointing for England.
The women were eliminated by Samoa earlier - you can read about that here.
The men's World Cup meanwhile is on life support. We will be back on Sunday when the switch may finally be turned off.
See you then.
Image source, RLWCKO times GMT
Saturday
Pool A - New Zealand v Fiji (04:30)
Pool A - Australia v Cook Islands (09.05)
Sunday
Pool B - Lebanon v France (06:40)
Pool B - Tonga v Samoa (09.05)
FT: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport
England edged towards a World Cup exit after their points chase against Papua New Guinea descended into a chaotic and error-strewn 34-12 victory that will almost certainly prove insufficient in the final reckoning.
Since their opening loss to Tonga, England's objective had been simple in their two remaining group games. Win and win well to have any hope of the reaching the last four.
They achieved that objective against France with a crushing 82-0 triumph and looked on course to make significant inroads into the 68-point deficit they needed to make up on Samoa when they led 22-0 after 22 minutes, courtesy of tries from Matty Ashton, AJ Brimson, Dominic Young and Harry Smith.
However, things went badly wrong from there on despite head coach Brian McDermott urging his players to the be patient in the build-up to this fixture.
A combination of repeatedly coughing up possession and conceding penalties restored belief in the Papua New Guinea ranks and Dudley Dotoi and Gairo Voro cashed in with tries for the Kumuls as England threw away the initiative.
The sight of England centre Herbie Farnworth being stripped of the ball running towards the try line moments before Mikey Lewis added another try to Morgan Knowles' second-half effort aptly summed up how things had slipped away.
England were guilty of making 21 errors and delivered a performance that included just a 57% completion rate, hardly good enough at this - or any - level.
It was the total opposite of the blueprint from the France game and it means England can now only reach the last four if Tonga defeat Samoa by more than 46 points.
As good as Kristian Woolf's side are, that appears highly improbable given they lost 34-6 to Samoa 12 months ago in Brisbane and have not registered a win over their neighbours since 2018.
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I strongly suggest that if it wasn't for the Australian based contingent in the England squad, this could have been even worse. The problem has been created by clubs who lip service to development and use the quota system.
Keith, West Yorks
No surprises with England, their preparation was poor, as the Super League only just finished, they look really tired and off the pace. Maybe this is a wake-up call to the selectors, and Super League in general, but realistically we are miles behind the southern hemisphere teams.
Chris in Grimsby
FT: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
Retiring Papua New Guinea captain Rhyse Martin on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra: "I just said to the boys then that I was so proud of their effort. We go out of this tournament with our heads high. We dug in there and we turned it into a game. We were close for a win.
"Shout out to my family and friends, who travelled from around the country to be here tonight. They've been there since day one. The PNG fans are amazing. Good to see so much colour here tonight."
FT: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
England's Kai Pearce-Paul, player of the match, on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra: "It was good to get the win. PNG, we knew they were going to be tough and physical. The fans are unmatched and it's a good atmosphere.
"I'm a firm believer in what will be will be. We did what we could today. We'll get together and watch the game and hope it goes our way."
FT: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
England captain George Williams on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra: "We were good the first 20 and then the wheels fell off, too many errors. Credit to PNG, they didn't stop fighting. It's disappointing for us - even though we won, a disappointing performance.
"We're feeling pretty rubbish. We're relying on Tonga to do a more than massive job. There's a chance but a very slim one. Gutted."
FT: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
Unless Tonga do England a massive favour, then this will be the first time ever that there is no British representation in the final four of a men's Rugby League World Cup.
In 16 previous competitions, either Great Britain or England have reached the top four.
That run looks to be over, and is symbolic of just how much the balance of power in world rugby league now lies in the southern hemisphere.
Robbie Hunter-Paul
Former New Zealand international on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
PNG brought it all in the second half. They lost the game but there's a lot of positives the Kumuls can take away from it.
FT: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
Some very long faces among the England players as they shake hands with the PNG boys.
Blame can be put on a lack of prep time, poor scheduling and the weird format - but tonight's disappointment is all about on-pitch errors, poor decision making and ill-discipline.
Plenty of questions for coach Brian McDermott and captain George Williams.
Robbie Hunter-Paul
Former New Zealand international on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
There's an element of dissatisfaction. England needed to score 68 points and then any sort of win by Tonga over Samoa would be enough. We were heading in that direction in the opening 40 minutes. They were only falling down by their own mishandling.
The second half, I think it was one of those times where you come it at half-time thinking I've got the opposition, we just need to turn up, put the momentum together and we've got this won.
The Kumuls had something to say about that.
Matt Newsum
Commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
It's a taste of what might have been for England. What might have been if they'd clicked more often in the second half.
England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
England win, but not by enough.
They need Tonga to defeat Samoa by 46 points on Sunday to get the points swing they need to qualify for the semi-finals.
Mikey Lewis (80 mins)
England's best try of the World Cup - too little, too late.
Mikey Lewis shows why he got the call up from Brian McDermott with a brilliant run past three or more tacklers to score in the corner.
A moment of magic, but most likely not enough for England to progress.
Harry Smith misses, and that's that.
Matt Newsum
Commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
It was beckoning, it was yawning for Herbie Farnworth to come through.
Robbie Hunter-Paul
Former New Zealand international on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
How many errors have England made in this second half? They do some great work to get themselves back into position and then a simple carry where they knock-on or lose the ball in a tackle against the ground.
England 30-12 Papua New Guinea
Herbie Farnworth charges through, nearly away, gets caught, chooses not to offload, drops the ball.
England's game in a nutshell.
England 30-12 Papua New Guinea
Into the final minute.
Can England find another try to give themselves just a slight bit more hope?
Robbie Hunter-Paul
Former New Zealand international on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
I have no idea what Jason Demetriou said to PNG at half-time but they've been a completely different team in the second half.
