Out in Slovakia for the European Championship, England’s Under-19 Young Lions are making waves. With a group-stage record of three matches played, three victories and no goals conceded they enter the semi-final stage as warm favourites to beat Italy, the senior team’s Euro 2020 nemeses, on Tuesday evening in Senec.
An opening 2-0 win over Austria followed by a 4-0 defeat of Serbia had already qualified them for 2023’s Under-20 World Cup even before Saturday’s 1-0 win over Israel, played on a sodden pitch after a midsummer storm. In Indonesia next year, they will aim to repeat the success of their 2017 forebears, who became the first English world champions since 1966 after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal beat Venezuela in the final.
