logo
logo
The England team show off the 2017 Under-20 World Cup trophy after beating Venezuela 10-0 in the final at Suwon Stadium, Suwon, South Korea. June 11, 2017.

Where are they now? England’s 2017 Under-20 World Cup winners

The summer of 2017 provided plenty of optimism for English football as the Under-20 side won the World Cup, to go with success in the Toulon tournament, Under-19 European Championship and Under-17 World Cup.

They became the first England football team to win a World Cup since Bobby Moore lifted the trophy in 1966, beating Venezuela 1-0 in the final in South Korea.

We’ve taken a look at the team that played in the final to see how well they are each progressing following the historic win.

GK: Freddie Woodman

England’s penalty-saving hero is a solid Championship goalkeeper at Preston North End these days.

He’d done well at Swansea before that, spending two seasons in South Wales and keeping an impressive 20 clean sheets in 45 second-tier games in the 2020-21 campaign, helping Steve Cooper’s men into the play-offs for a second consecutive time.

But, even though Gareth Southgate is his godfather, we’d be very surprised to see him get a call-up to England’s senior side.

RB: Jonjoe Kenny

One of the winners of the 2014 Under-17 European Championship, Kenny went on to make 50 Premier League appearances at Everton, before moving to Hertha Berlin last summer.

The full-back was shipped out on loan to Celtic during 2020-21 campaign – his fourth loan spell away from Goodison Park following stints with Oxford United and Schalke. He made 16 appearances in a disappointing season for the club, but at least he managed four assists.

We won’t talk about the Old Firm own goal…

CB: Fikayo Tomori

One of the biggest success stories of this team. An impressive loan spell with Derby County in 2019-20 eventually saw the centre-back catapulted into the Chelsea first-team under Frank Lampard.

He then fell out of favour at Stamford Bridge but has really re-established himself at San Siro with AC Milan.

He helped Milan to their first Scudetto in 11 years in 2022 and former Milan man Mauro Tassotti, who knew a thing or two about defending, said: “Tomori is good at winning the ball back, his speed is impressive. He anticipates a lot and he’s always aggressive.”

It’s worth remembering one of the three goals conceded by England during the competition was this stunning own goal, scored by the defender.

CB: Jake Clarke-Salter

Another centre-back from Chelsea’s academy, Clarke-Salter has not enjoyed the same ascent as Tomori and was never given a chance in the Blues’ first team – although he has captained England’s Under-21s.

“I’d be silly to say I wouldn’t want to be in the position where I could play for Chelsea. Anyone would,” he told The Independent in September 2019. “It’s very hard to have patience at times, but you have to understand that there are world-class players at Chelsea. You learn to appreciate that.”

He moved to QPR last summer and made 11 appearances for the Championship side.

LB: Kyle Walker-Peters

Walker-Peters was on the fringes of Tottenham’s first team for three seasons after enjoying glory at the Under-20s World Cup, making 24 appearances in all competitions, including the Champions League.

In January 2020, the full-back joined Southampton on loan and made the move permanent that summer. He has since established himself as a solid Premier League full-back, making 110 apperances over his two seasons as a full-time Saint.

Were he born in any other generation, the 24-year-old may well be pushing for a spot in England’s senior side. We’d expect him to remain in the top flight, despite Southampton’s relegation.

RM: Kieran Dowell (Sheyi Ojo, 62)

Another of the six squad members who also won the European Under-17 Championship in 2014, and another of five Everton players in this World Cup-winning squad.

But Dowell struggled to fit into the Toffees first-team set-up after flying home and, after four spells away on loan, moved permanently to Norwich City in the summer of 2020. He scored five goals as the Canaries were promoted straight back to the top flight but played just seven times in the Premier League.

Ojo left Liverpool for Cardiff City last summer and made his mark with a stunning effort during a televised FA Cup tie against Leeds United.

CM: Josh Onomah

After threatening to break through at Spurs only to be loaned out to Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday, Onomah joined Fulham on a permanent basis as part of the deal that saw Ryan Sessegnon move in the opposite direction.

The attacking midfielder helped Aston Villa to the play-off final in 2017-18, but it wasn’t enough to make Martin Lipton of the Daily Mirror’s 2014 prediction come true.

But he did at least help Fulham win promotions in 2020 and 2022. He moved to Preston in January 2023.

CM: Lewis Cook

The captain of the side and another one to progress from the Under-17 victory in 2014, Cook has battled some serious injury issues and saw his 2020-21 season ended by a second cruciate ligament rupture. He came back in October 2021, however, and played 28 games as Bournemouth sealed promotion.

He won his first, and to date only, senior cap as a substitute against Italy in 2018, and the former Leeds United man certainly won’t have given up hope of a return to Gareth Southgate’s set-up just yet.

LM: Ademola Lookman

Having already made 49 appearances for Charlton, Lookman joined Everton in January 2017 just three months after turning 19.

Despite occasional moments of promise, the forward failed to establish himself on Merseyside and made the eye-catching move to RB Leipzig, having impressed on loan at the Bundesliga outfit.

That permanent move didn’t work as planned though and Lookman is now with Serie A over-achievers Atalanta. He had also made seven appearances for Nigeria, after switching allegiances last year.

ST: Dominic Solanke

Solanke had already agreed to join Liverpool from Chelsea when he helped England win the Under-20 World Cup, collecting the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.

Since then he has made his senior England debut and earned a £19million move to Bournemouth, but seriously underwhelmed in the top flight for the Cherries.

The drop into the Championship did him a world of good, however, as banged in 29 league goals in their 2021-22 promotion campaign. The striker also notched six as Bournemouth avoided relegation last term.

ST: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 76)

He scored the winner in the final in 2017, but Calvert-Lewin’s career has been somewhat derailed by a succession of injuries.

He’ll have to recover his 2020-21 form to re-establish himself as one of the Premier League’s best strikers. After scoring 16 goals in 33 games for Everton that year, he only managed two last season

For a while, Maitland-Niles looked like being the next big thing to graduate from Arsenal’s academy, but he appears to be on his way out of the Emirates.

He spent last season at doomed Southampton and a place in Mikel Arteta’s first team looks a long way away.


READ NEXT: Revisiting the ’20 future England stars’ picked by The Guardian in 2008

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name England’s Xl from their first game at new Wembley?