England are perilously close to becoming the first shock exit of the World Cup nines after a 16-13 loss to lowly Lebanon.

Without their boycotting NRL stars, the Cedars claimed what will likely be the biggest upset of the weekend against an England side full of NRL and Super League talent.

Brothers Reece and Travis Robinson starred, the latter scoring a double with the first coming from a nice flick pass from his sibling.

The win was Lebanon’s second of the tournament after also stunning France on the opening night, meaning they will qualify for the finals if they beat Wales on Saturday afternoon.

That would blow England out of the tournament, meaning they would miss the semi-finals of a rugby league World Cup event in any format for the first time in their history.

“We probably didn’t start well. Some of the tries we let in defensively weren’t our best effort. That’s where we let ourselves down there,” England star Gareth Widdop said.

“They played some good football. We nearly got it at the end there but didn’t.”

“We know we need to be better in the next game.”

France beat Wales 23-6 in the day’s first men’s match but will also miss the finals if Lebanon win their last game.