Jarvis Inspires England Comeback Past Moldova to Reach Last 16

Wembley started out sounding nervous, not festive, and England had only Samuel Walker’s loss to Vladislav Ursu to blame for that. Moldova had arrived with momentum after its gritty 3-2 preliminary-round win over Greece, and Ursu immediately made the hosts feel it, putting England under pressure in the opening match and handing the visitors the first point of the Round of 32 tie.

That was the moment England had to steady itself, and Tom Jarvis did the heavy lifting. He beat Andrei Putuntica in straight games to drag the tie level, a result that changed the temperature inside OVO Arena Wembley as much as it changed the scoreline. Connor Green then took over the next swing point, recovering after dropping the opening game to Denis Terna before taking control of the rallies and moving England to within one match of the last 16.

By then, the crowd that had been carrying the weight of a home World Championships had become part of the solution. England’s women had already fallen 3-0 to Germany earlier in the day, so the men were not just playing a knockout tie, they were carrying the host nation’s mood with them. Once Jarvis stepped back in for the deciding showdown against Ursu, the atmosphere sharpened around him rather than pressing down on him.

Jarvis had to absorb an early burst from Moldova’s top player, then settle into the middle games where the points became tighter and the margins thinner. He saved and converted the decisive rallies, the sort of composure England needed after the awkward start, and closed out the comeback that sent the hosts through. Jarvis later described it as one of the best feelings of his career, a fitting reaction for a player who has already shown he can handle a stage like this after beating Germany’s Dang Qiu 4-3 at the 2025 World Championships in Doha.

The result mattered beyond one evening at Wembley. These championships are being staged as a centenary celebration, 100 years after the first World Championships were held in England in 1926, with 64 men’s teams and 64 women’s teams across 13 days in London. England entered the knockout rounds automatically as hosts, but still had to prove it could survive real pressure. This did that, and with authority: Walker absorbed the early blow, Jarvis reset the tie, Green deepened the hole for Moldova, and Jarvis finished the job to keep England’s medal hopes moving toward a run the men have not made since bronze in 2016.