England and world champions uttered in the same sentence when relating to football conjured memories only of 1966. That was until the summer of 2017.
The last few years have seen the Three Lions become a powerhouse regarding youth football, or to be more precise, being successful in various Uefa-sanctioned competitions.
It wouldn’t be long before they would triumph on the world stage. Paul Simpson, at the helm of England’s U-20 side, was cautiously optimistic heading into the World Cup being staged in South Korea.
And for good reason. His charges would not lose a single game heading into the final against Venezuela, whom they’d brush aside 1-0 to end a 51-year wait to win a global tournament trophy.
Those who featured became household names overnight, shining the spotlight once again on the relationship between developing homegrown stars and the Premier League once again.
What has been the fate of those 13 players Simpson used in the Suwon final?
GK: Freddie Woodman
Age: 28
Club: Preston North End
Senior caps: 0
A graduate of Newcastle United’s youth system, whom he joined from boyhood club Crystal Palace, the south Londoner featured in all but one of England’s seven U-20 World Cup matches, keeping four clean sheets in the process, which ultimately earned him the competition’s Golden Glove award.
Unable to establish himself in the Magpies’ starting XI, Woodman made just nine first-team appearances and spent spells on loan at Hartlepool, Crawley, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, Swansea and Bournemouth before finally leaving Newcastle in the summer of 2022. Woodman is now a regular in goal for Preston North End, making 138 appearances across all competitions to date.
RB: Jonjoe Kenny
Age: 28
Club: Hertha Berlin
Senior caps: 0
One of a number of Evertonians in England’s championship-winning squad, the Liverpudlian truly broke through at Goodison Park during the 2017/18 campaign but struggled to supplant Seamus Coleman at right-back. During the 2019/20 season, he was on loan at Bundesliga outfit Schalke 04, and following another loan spell at Celtic, moved to Germany permanently with Hertha Berlin. He’s made 98 appearances for the capital side, scoring five goals and providing 16 assists, but is yet to extend his contract beyond this summer.
CB: Fikayo Tomori
Age: 27
Club: AC Milan
Senior caps: 5
A product of Chelsea’s esteemed academy, the native of Calgary – who lifted back-to-back Uefa Youth League titles in 2015 and 2016 – enjoyed a loan spell at Championship side Hull City in the 2017/18 season while he played a key role in Derby County reaching the 2018/19 play-off final under Frank Lampard. He later thrived back at Chelsea under the very same manager, but he soon fell out of favour and was sent on loan to AC Milan. That loan move was made permanent and Tomori proved a pivotal player, winning Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles during his 177 appearances for the club. Remarkably, he still has just five senior caps to his name.
CB: Jake Clarke-Salter
Age: 27
Club: QPR
Senior caps: 0
Tomori’s former club-mate and yet another Chelsea academy graduate who spent the 2017/18 season playing Championship football, though Clarke-Salter’s loan spell at Sunderland was one to forget as he suffered the ignominy of relegation. In 2018/19, he impressed on loan at Vitesse but couldn’t break out of the loan cycle at Chelsea with further spells at Birmingham and Coventry before joining QPR permanently.
LB: Kyle Walker-Peters
Age: 28
Club: Southampton
Senior caps: 2
First team appearances were few and far between for Kyle Walker-Peters at Tottenham, even in the face of the likes of Kieran Trippier losing form and departing for Atletico Madrid. He did, however, register three assists during a 5–0 home win against Bournemouth, becoming the youngest player, aged 21 years and 257 days, to provide three assists in a Premier League game since Jermaine Pennant (aged 20 years and 227 days).
He later completed a permanent switch to Southampton after spending time at St Mary’s on loan, going on to become a vital player for the Saints and earning two senior England caps in 2022. Walker-Peters’ Southampton contract is up this summer and he’ll be a sought-after free agent.
RM: Kieran Dowell
Age: 27
Club: Rangers
Senior caps: 0
Dowell, another born and bred at Everton, initially broke through at Goodison Park during the 2015/16 season – playing 72 minutes across two Premier League matches – but rarely featured after that, instead enjoying loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United, with whom he won promotion from the Championship. In 2019/20, he was on loan with Wigan Athletic, but eventually signed permanent terms with Norwich City, playing 75 times for the Canaries across three years. Since then, he’s been a bit-part player for Rangers and enjoyed a fruitful loan at Birmingham in the second half of last season, notching five goals and four assists in 19 League One games as the Blues won the title.
CM: Lewis Cook
Age: 28
Club: Bournemouth
Senior caps: 1
Lewis Cook has kicked on since his 2017 success, where he became the first England captain to lift a world trophy since Bobby Moore, earning his first senior England cap against Italy in March 2018 as well as being close to making Gareth Southgate’s 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup, but he was ultimately named as one of the five players on standby.
Cook was in and out of the Bournemouth starting XI across 2019/20 as the Cherries dropped out of the Premier League after five years, but remained with them and eventually helped them seal their return to the top flight. The Cherries are now a competitive force in the Premier League and Cook remains a key player.
CM: Josh Onomah
Age: 28
Club: Free agent
Senior caps: 0
Limited opportunities in north London saw Onomah, another product of Spurs’ reputable academy system, join Aston Villa on a season-long loan, where he played over 1,860 minutes of league football, including a brief cameo in their Championship play-off final defeat against Fulham. He also spent the 2018/19 season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
He moved to Fulham in the 2019 summer transfer window as part of the deal which saw Ryan Sessegnon relocate to Tottenham. After helping Fulham get back into the Premier League in 2019/20, Onomah struggled for consistent game time at Craven Cottage and has since had only brief stints with Preston and Blackpool. He’s due to leave the latter this summer.
LM: Ademola Lookman
Age: 27
Club: Atalanta
Senior caps: 29 for Nigeria
Tipped for big things as he came through at Charlton Athletic, the Londoner joined Everton in early 2017 and seemed to establish himself under then-manager Ronald Koeman. However, limited opportunities following his departure saw him join RB Leipzig on a six-month loan, where he shone brightly, having registered five goals and four assists across 11 outings for the Bundesliga outfit.
Lookman once again struggled for minutes under Marco Silva and ultimately re-joined Leipzig on a permanent basis. But more struggles came and loan spells at Fulham and Leicester followed before Lookman permanently joined Atalanta in 2022. He’s thrived since then, registering 52 goals and 25 assists in 118 appearances across all competitions, helping Atalanta win the 2023/24 Europa League — just their second major trophy.
Lookman also has a new country, declaring for Nigeria and scoring eight times in 29 caps so far.
ST: Dominic Solanke
Age: 27
Club: Tottenham
Senior caps: 3
Ever-present during England’s incredible run, missing only 28 minutes of action, the former Chelsea academy graduate registered four goals, including a brace in their semi-final win over Italy. His performances earned him a move to Liverpool, where Solanke played a squad role under Jurgen Klopp, leading to Southgate handing over a first senior international cap against Brazil at Wembley Stadium in November 2017. Solanke eventually moved to Bournemouth for £19m but struggled in the top flight before eventually finding his feet in the Championship. Across two campaigns, Solanke scored 44 goals in 86 Championship matches to help the Cherries back into the Premier League, where he thrived scoring 19 goals in 38 appearances in 2023/24 (21 goals in all competitions).
That form earned Solanke a move to Tottenham where, last season, he scored 14 goals across all competitions, including five in the Europa League as Spurs lifted the trophy and earned Champions League qualification. Solanke has also managed to pick up a couple more England caps.
ST: Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Age: 28
Club: Everton
Senior caps: 11
Lookman’s teammate at Goodison Park has been a mainstay since arriving from Sheffield United in August 2016. The Yorkshireman, who scored the winning goal against Venezuela, has blown hot and cold for the Toffees, excelling under Carlo Ancelotti but often succumbing to injuries and losses of form.
Calvert-Lewin scored just three goals in 26 Premier League appearances last season and his future looks very uncertain.
Substitutes:
Sheyi Ojo
Age: 27
Club: NK Maribor
Senior caps: 0
Ojo joined Liverpool’s academy from MK Dons in 2011 but made just 13 appearances for the Reds’ first team across his 11-year stay. Most of his time linked to the Anfield club was spent on loan and Ojo finally left Liverpool for Cardiff in the summer of 2022, having spent the 2020/21 campaign on loan in Wales. After an additional spell with Belgian side Kortrijk, Ojo now plays for Maribor in Slovenia.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Age: 27
Club: Lyon
Senior caps: 5
One of the very last Arsenal youngsters to be handed their first-team debut under Arsene Wenger, the Goodmayes-born multifunctional footballer grabbed his opportunity by the scruff of the neck, having made 15 league appearances during the 2017/18 season. Maitland-Niles later became an integral part of Mikel Arteta’s side and received five England caps for his showings in north London. But he eventually fell out of favour and, following loans at West Brom, Roma and Southampton, joined French side Lyon in 2023. Maitland-Niles has played 73 times there across all competitions, helping them reach the 2023/24 Coupe de France final — after also winning the 2021/22 Uefa Conference League with Roma.