England were knocked out of the Champions Trophy after they suffered an eight-run defeat against tournament debutants Afghanistan in a Group B match on Wednesday.

With two more matches to go in Group B, the battle for the top two spots got intense as the trio of Afghanistan, Australia and South Africa, are all in contention for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semifinals.

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat against England in a must-win Champions Trophy game for both teams.

England are dumped out of the Champions Trophy by a nerve-shredding eight-run defeat by Afghanistan in Lahore.

They came for the Champions Trophy 2025 with a depleted squad without regular skipper Pat Cummins, pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis. But Australia still managed to fulfill their first aim of qualifying for the semifinals of the eight-team event.

Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the coin toss under overcast conditions and elected to bat in Afghanistan's must-win last Group B game of the Champions Trophy against Australia.

Tournament debutants Afghanistan sent England packing from the Champions Trophy after opener Ibrahim Zadran's epic 177 set up their narrow eight-run victory in a Group B thriller on Wednesday. Zadran produced the highest score in the tournament's history to help Afghanistan overcome Jofra Archer's three early wickets and rack up 325-7.

Australia reached the semifinals of the Champions Trophy 2025 after their clash against Afghanistan ended without a result on Friday, February 28. This was a virtual quarterfinal clash for both teams,

Know what Afghanistan needs to do to make it to Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal after their clash against Australia got washed out on February 27.