Known as ‘the Young Lions’ for rather obvious reasons, England’s Under-21s side could be seen by some as the feeder team for the men’s national side. Whilst things don’t quite work like that, it is an opportunity for young players to impress in the hope that they earn a place in a domestic team’s squad, which will in turn offer chances with the England team.
The Young Lions have often done well on the international stage, performing much better than their senior counterparts have often done in the major tournaments. It isn’t a team many people care about, but it can be quite instructive.
Performance
If you want to get a sense of how promising England’s future could turn out to be, the Under-21s side is the obvious place to start. This is a team that is full to the brim of promising youngsters who are looking to make a breakthrough with domestic teams at some point, yet obviously haven’t been able to do so because of their age. Whilst some teams will always take an attitude of ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’, others are far more prosaic in their approach to letting relatively inexperienced players become starters in the first team at a football club.
As a result, the Under-21s team is often made up of talented youngsters that aren’t quite good enough to break into a team like Liverpool, Manchester United or Arsenal, but are nevertheless strong performers. This allows the Under-21s team in general to push forward and offer supporters the chance for silverware. The only competition that they really get to do that in is the European Under-21s Championship, with no World Cup to speak of for the age group. There is, however, an Under-20s World Cup, which can be seen as a surrogate for the players.
Under-20s World Cup
The FIFA Under-20s World Cup is obviously slightly different to the European Under-21s Championship in terms of the age group, but the reality is that players are often entitled to play even beyond the age that you’d think would qualify for it. It was initially known as the FIFA World Youth Championship, becoming the Under-20s World Cup in 2005. If you want a sense of the kinds of players who can make their name in the competition, it is worth noting that both Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi won the Official Player of the Tournament award when they took part in it.
From an England point of view, the Young Lions didn’t take part in the first iteration of it in 1977, nor were they there when it was held two years later. They did join 15 other teams for the 1981 version, however, finishing top of their group before winning 4-2 against Egypt in the quarter-final. The semi-final saw them lose to Qatar, whilst a defeat to Romania in the third-place play-off also disappointed. They were missing again in 1983, then finished bottom of their group two years later and the only point that they managed to win came in a 2-2 draw with Paraguay.
They had to watch on enviously as Scotland took part in 1987, failed to make it in 1989 and got knocked out at the group stage in 1991. Better was to come three years later, though, when they won their group and then beat Mexico on penalties in the quarter-finals. A 2-1 loss to Ghana in the semis put them in another third-place play-off, this time winning 2-1 against Australia. They missed the 1995 iteration of the competition, returning in 1997 and winning their group before losing 2-1 to Argentina in the round of 16. They then got knocked out at the group stage in 1999.
After missing the tournament once more in 2001, they fell at the first hurdle in 2003 and failed to make it out of their group. They were missing in 2005 and 2007, returning to the fold in 2009 but finished bottom of their group. They qualified for the knockout stages in 2011 as one of the best third-place teams, but lost to Nigeria in the round of 16. The 2013 iteration saw the Young Lions once again end up bottom of their group, missing out in 2015 before roaring back when South Korea were the hosts in 2017. They won their group without losing a game, being Costa Rica in the rough of 16.
The quarter-final pitted them against Mexico, with England winning 1-0, defeating Italy 3-1 in the semi-final. It was Venezuela that they had to play in the final, winning 1-0 to claim success in the tournament for the first time, as Dominic Solanke was named the best player and Freddie Woodman the best goalkeeper. They failed to qualify two years on, then won the group when it was hosted in Argentina in 2023. They won their group, but lost to Italy in the round of 16 before not taking part in the 2025 iteration of the competition.
European Under-21s Championship
As a European team, the England Under-21s get to take part in the European Under-21s Championship, which took place for the first time in 1978. They won their group in the tournament’s debut year, beating Italy in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual winners Yugoslavia in the semis. They won their group again two years later, defeating Scotland in the quarter-finals before again losing in the semis, this time to East Germany. It was another group win in 1982, beating Poland in the quarter-finals before a win over Scotland in the semis and a win over West Germany in the final.
Having won it for the first time, England arrived at the 1984 tournament as defending champions and topped their group, beating France in the quarter-finals and Italy in the semi-finals. This time it was Spain in the final, which England again won to have back-to-back titles to their name. After topping the group once more in 1986, England beat Denmark in the quarter-finals before losing to Italy in the semis. Two years later and it was another top of the group effort, beating Scotland before once again falling down in the semis, this time losing to France.
The 1990 version saw England fail to make it out of the group, which was repeated two years later. England failed to qualify in 1994, with the same thing happening in 1996 and 1998. They made it in 2000, though, only to fail to make it out of the group again. A bottom-of-the-group finish in 2002 saw them crash out early, whilst 2004 witnessed another failure to qualify, as did 2006. They did make it in 2007, losing to the Netherlands in the semi-finals after having come second in the group. Better was to come two years later, with England topping their group ahead of Germany.
After winning against Sweden on penalties in the semi-final, England suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss in the final as the Germans got their revenge. Having been seeded in the third pot in 2011, England failed to make it out of their group that year. They didn’t win a single point in the group stage in 2013, with another bottom-of-the-group exit coming two years later. Things were better in 2017 when they won their group, losing to Germany on penalties in the semi-finals. Two years on and it was another group stage exit for the Young Lions, which was also the case in 2021.
Better was to come, however, as England topped their group in 2023 before beating Portugal in the quarter-finals and Israel in the semis, winning 1-0 against Spain in the final as Anthony Gordon was named the competition’s best player. Two years later and the defending champions were runners-up in their group, defeating Spain once again, this time in the quarter-finals. That set up a match against the Netherlands in the semi-finals, which England won 2-1, before the final against Germany was won in extra-time for back-to-back wins. Harvey Elliott was named the Best Player.
Structure
The England Under-21s team came into existence in 1976 after UEFA decided to realign their youth competitions. The very first game saw the Young Lions take on Wales at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux Stadium, drawing 0-0. As with the men’s team, players are called up to play with the England Under-21s, as opposed to joining them early on and remaining with them throughout their youth career, as is the case with their club sides. It is possible for a player to play for the Under-21s, play in the full England team and then return to the Under-21s, as many players have done.
Captains
Whereas the England senior team is much like football clubs, insomuch as there will be a captain named who keeps the role until a new captain is assigned, the nature of the Under-21s side is much more fluid. The manager doesn’t know if their players are going to be given a senior call-up, for example, so there doesn’t tend to be the same kind of focus on the captaincy as is the case in other teams. That being said, a captain is still chosen for each match and takes on the responsibility of taking with the referee, calling the coin tosses and so on during a game.
Managers
You might think that the England Under-21s head coach slot would be a place for managers to practice ahead of a possible call-up to the senior team, but that doesn’t tend to be the case very often. In fact, of all of the managers who have held the role since Dave Sexton first did so in 1977, only Stuart Pearce, Roy Hodgson and Gareth Southgate have gone on to manage the senior team and even that was only in a caretaker manner in the case of Pearce and Hodgson; the latter when he was managing the senior side. It is a good chance for a manager to gain some experience, though.
Grounds
Unlike the senior team, which would be considered to call Wembley Stadium its home, the Under-21s side doesn’t have a permanent base of operations. Instead, they play in stadia around the country, giving people across the land a chance to turn up and watch potential England stars of the future.
Smaller grounds are often used, on account of the fact that there is less demand to see the Young Lions. That being said, just shy of 60,000 turned up to watch England Under-21s take on Italy Under-21s at Wembley Stadium on the 24th of Match 2007, showing there is some appetite for it.