Five years on: Where are England’s under-19 European Championship winners now?

1 Jul 2022 18:12 BST
3 min read

Sheffield United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has been linked with Arsenal — © ProShots

England are set to compete in the final of the Under-19 European Championships for the first time since they won it in 2017.

The annual tournament has not been held for the past two years due to the pandemic but Ian Foster’s side qualified for the final against Israel after beating Italy in the semi-finals.

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The Young Lions will be hoping for a repeat of five years ago when they beat Portugal in Georgia to win the competition for the first time.

Having established themselves as the best under-19s international side in Europe at the time, FootballTransfers looks at how the careers of England’s brightest have progressed since 2017.

How have England’s champions faired in the past five years?

Of the 18-man squad, only three players have gone on to play for England’s senior side so far, with Aaron Ramsdale, Mason Mount and Reece James all first team players for club and country.

Ramsdale conceded just two goals in the entire tournament and has gone on to earn three caps for England, where he will be expected to compete with Jordan Pickford as the starting goalkeeper in this year’s World Cup.

James was one of the younger members in the squad at 17 and played a bit-part role during the tournament but is now arguably England’s first choice right-back, having earned 13 caps in a highly-competitive position.

Mount was named the ‘Golden Player’ of the 2017 tournament and has become the biggest success out of the entire squad, earning 31 caps and establishing himself as a crucial midfielder for England.

Sending our #YoungLions into the #U19EURO final! ✨
— England (@England) June 28, 2022

Although not for England, the joint top scorer of the tournament, Ben Brereton (now with an additional ‘Diaz’ to his name), has become a cult hero for Chile, scoring four goals in 15 caps.

Former Manchester City striker Lukas Nmecha has also broken into the international setup with another country, earning six caps for Germany while playing for Wolfsburg.

In the rest of the squad, only three more players have made appearances in the top flight since 2017, with Trevoh Chalobah, Josh Dasilva and Ryan Sessegnon turning out regularly for Chelsea, Brentford and Tottenham respectively.

While the development of the 2017 winners may be underwhelming, with the likes of Carney Chukwemeka, Liam Delap and Dane Scarlett already playing in the Premier League for their clubs, the 2022 finalists could end up producing more talent for England in the future.