England suffered a 3-0 defeat against defending champions Spain in the semi-finals of the Women’s Under-17s World Cup.

Alba Cerrato returned from suspension to put two-time world champions Spain, who beat England 4-0 in the European Under-17s final in May, in front just before the break.

Pau Comendador grabbed her fifth goal of the competition, moving clear in the race for the Golden Boot, while England’s Zara Shaw scored an own goal as Spain eased into Sunday’s final in the Dominican Republic.

England have twice reached the semi-finals in three appearances – going on to finish fourth in 2008 – and they have a chance to better that when they meet the United States in the third-place play-off at 19:30 GMT on Sunday.

“I’m full of pride,” said England coach Natalie Henderson.

“The girls gave it a real good go, that’s all we asked of them at the start. We promised each other that we were going to give it our best shot, and I think we did.”

Spain face North Korea, who beat England 4-0 in the group stages, at 23:00 GMT on Sunday as they attempt to win the World Cup for a third time.