England Under-21s will feature in the final of the Toulon Tournament after they secured a 1-0 victory over Japan Under-23s.
The only goal of the game came in the 15th minute when Lewis Baker found the corner from the penalty spot but England had to survive some nervy moments either side of half time as Japan showed plenty of threat in attack.
Gareth Southgate's side will now meet France on Sunday as they bid to win the competition for the first time in 22 years.
Read below to see how the action unfolded in Toulon.
Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the fixture in the Toulon Tournament between Japan Under-23s and England Under-21s.
An England team doing well at a tournament being staged in France? Let's hope it's a sign of things to come! Over the past week, England Under-21s have recorded three successive victories to put themselves on the brink of an appearance in the final at the Toulon Tournament for the first time in 22 years. Gareth Southgate's men require just a point today and if their previously performances are anything to go by, they should get the result they need.
England will likely reach Sunday's final even without a result this afternoon, with a 12-goal swing required to deny them a place against France. That said, I'm sure that Southgate will want to continue the momentum built in their previous fixtures with 12 goals being scored and just one being conceded.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the team that has been selected by Southgate. As expected, a number of changes have taken place...
ENGLAND XI: Gunn; Stephens, Chambers (c), Holding, Targett, Grealish, Grimes, Baker, Swift, Palmer, Woodrow
ENGLAND SUBSTITUTES: Pickford, Iorfa, Hause, Watmore, Ward-Prowse, Loftus-Cheek, Redmond
Missed the games that have taken place earlier this week? Don't worry. You can catch up here with our match reports.
This afternoon's match isn't the only match involving an England side today. The senior team continue their preparations for Euro 2016 against Australia at the Stadium of Light this evening. You can read Sports Mole's preview for that game by clicking here.
JAPAN XI: Nakamura, Kida, Ueda, Van Wermeskerken, Mitsumaru, Oshima (c), Ideguchi, Minamino, Yajima, Notsuda, Onaiwu
Japan lost their opening two fixtures and that effectively put them out of the tournament before they had started. They responded with a 2-1 win over Guinea on Wednesday but the fact that England beat the same opponents by a 7-1 scoreline should tell you who are the overwhelming favourites for this game.
PREDICTION! The nine alterations made by Southgate should at least level the playing field to some extent but you England are still expected to make light work of their opponents in Toulon. Japan may keep it tight for a while but we expect the floodgates to open later in the game. England to win 4-1.
The two teams have made their out onto the pitch in France. It's fair to say that the ground is nowhere near full. You could even hear the England players singing the national anthem. Still some work to do in that area...
England get us underway.
As expected, England begin the contest by dominating possession in the middle of the park. There's not a whole lot of attacking intent but Southgate won't mind right now. Japan are doing a lot of chasing.
Chambers loses possession in his own half and Japan put together a move that ends with Targett heading behind for a corner. The set piece is very disappointing, however, and the ball is cleared by Holding.
We are still awaiting our first shot in Toulon. Woodrow almost got in behind the Japan defence but he was wrongly called offside. He mis-controlled the ball so the poor decision proved irrelevant.
There's plenty of urgency within the England team but at the same time, they are showing no real eagerness to get forward in numbers. They are perhaps trying to conserve energy after the hectic schedule of the past week and with Sunday's final in mind. Still no efforts on goal from either side.
England put together a neat move involving Grimes and Stephens but the resulting low cross towards Woodrow was tame and comfortably cleared by a Japanese defender.
PENALTY TO ENGLAND!
GOAL! Japan 0-1 England (Baker)
It's a goal out of nowhere but England won't care. Swift got onto the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area before drawing a foul out of Mitsumaru. It's an easy decision for the referee and Lewis Baker makes no mistake in slotting the ball into the corner. It's his third goal of the competition.
Japan tried to go on the offensive straight after conceding the goal but they were soon stifled by England. There's still a long way to go but it's hard to see how Japan can test this Three Lions defence. It looks men versus boys, which is strange because it's Japan who have an older team!
Over the last few minutes, England have won free kicks in a threatening area but the ball into the box has not been up to standard, which will bug Southgate. Grealish is the big name in this England side but he is yet to offering anything of note in the final third.
SHOT! It's taken over 25 minutes for someone to have a shot from open play but Onaiwu tries his luck from just outside the area with a thudding effort but fortunately for England, Gunn is equal to it.
SHOT! In all fairness to Japan, they have enjoyed a decent spell during the last few minutes. After a sustained spell on the ball, Notsuda got his shot away from the edge of the area but his effort was always going wide of Gunn's left post. England need to step it up because they have become complacent since the goal.
SHOT! Another chance for Japan - this is very sloppy from England. Minamino gets hold of the ball around 40 yards on goal and after easing past Chambers, he lets fly from 20 yards but his shot is always rising and it clears the bar by about a yard. He should have at least found the target.
Better from England, who get Grealish into a forward position before the ball is played through to Palmer. However, a defender gets across to block the shot from the Chelsea attacker and nothing comes from the resulting corner.
SHOT! Baker hasn't done much since netting the penalty but he finally comes to life with a excellent effort from all of 30 yards. It was far too close to the goalkeeper, however, and Nakamura is able to punch the ball clear.
HALF TIME: Japan 0-1 England
The half-time whistle goes (yes, at 40 minutes - I'd forgotten as well) and England reach the break with a narrow 1-0 lead. They are just about deserving of their advantage but Japan came back into the contest towards the end of the half and could pose a threat after the break.
We are back underway in Toulon. Southgate has opted to withdraw goalscorer Baker and replace him with Chelsea teammate Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Dominic Iorfa is also on for England at right-back. We also have our first yellow card of the game after Ueda crudely barely Grealish to the floor. That looked pre-meditated...
Aside from that foul on Grealish, it's been a quiet start to the second half. Japan found themselves in a crossing position from the right but the ball was delivered to the far post without any target in mind.
Grealish and Swift combine to win England a free kick around 35 yards from goal. Swift gets to his feet and unleashes a terrific effort on goal but Nakamura is able to watch the ball go just wide of his right post. The midfielder has been one of England's best players so far.
Holding brings an abrupt halt to a Japanese move that would have resulted in a clear shot on goal and he's fortunate to avoid a yellow card with the referee instead deciding to book Chambers! The set piece is deflected wide for a corner before Gunn is forced into a save at the back post.
WOODWORK! What an effort! The ball ricochets kindly to Notsuda on the edge of the box and the midfielder decides to take the ball from the air with a superbly-struck volley with his left foot. Unfortunately for the Japanese player, he can only hit the crossbar with Gunn beaten.
WOODWORK! Now it's England turn to hit the woodwork! A mazy run from Palmer, which is ended prematurely, gives Grimes the chance to try his luck from 20 yards and he very nearly doubles his team's advantage with a set piece that strikes the underside of the crossbar. He's so unlucky.
Both sides are continuing with the substitutions but it isn't hindering the flow of the game. There's a real end-to-end feel to this contest and you get the impression that this won't end 1-0.
England have gone back into their shell to a certain extent over the past few minutes. They are perhaps trying to retain all of the energy that they can ahead of Sunday's clash with France. Not all of the players involved in this match will start but they will want to be fresh should their services be required.
That shot had plenty of desperation added to it. Ideguchi tried to catch Gunn by surprise but his hooked right-foot effort was always heading wide of the target. Japan are still showing flashes of enthusiasm, though. England need to remain alert.
England are doing their best to see out this game with minimal fuss but they keep playing themselves into trouble at the back. They are fortunate to survive when Japan press them in their own penalty area and they cannot afford to do that too often. Ten minutes to go.
For the first time in a while, Grealish gets on the ball down the left flank and immediately heads to the corner to run down some time. There's no hiding what England are trying to do here. Five minutes to go.
Japan win a free kick from around 30 yards out. This is the perfect position for an inswinging cross...
The set piece is poor and headed behind for a corner by Loftus-Cheek. A second corner is earned when an England defender heads behind once again but they cannot force a third. That could be their last chance. There will be two minutes of added-on time.
FULL TIME: Japan 0-1 England
The full-time whistle goes in Toulon and England have booked their place in the final on Sunday thanks to Lewis Baker's early penalty. In truth, there was never any doubt that they would be facing France on Sunday but they did just enough to make it four wins in a row.
That will be all from Sports Mole's coverage of this match. Thank you for joining us and we hope that you can stick around for the three international friendlies that are taking place later tonight. Goodbye for now.
