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England women's national under-20 football team

This article is about the women's team. For the men's team, see England national under-20 football team.

England Women's U-20s
NicknameThe Young Lionesses
AssociationThe Football Association
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
FIFA codeENG
First colours
Second colours
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
Appearances5 (first in 2002)
Best resultThird place, 2018

The England women's national under-20 football team is an association football team that represents England women at under-20 level. It was governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). Although most national football teams represent a sovereign state, as a member of the United Kingdom's Home Nations, England is permitted by FIFA statutes to maintain its own national side that competes in all major tournaments. The team operated as England Under-21s from 2018 to 2021, followed by England Under-23s, after cancellations of the Under-19 Championship and U-20 World Cup.

Pathway Transitions

Move to U-21 system (2018–2021)

In a bid to better aid the transition between the youth pathway and senior football, the WFA announced in September 2018 that they were scrapping the U23s and U20s format in order to form an Under-21s age group, which would become the top tier of the nation's professional development phase. The move would align England's structure to that used in other European countries, allowing for more age-appropriate games and better manage individual player development post-U20 World Cup for those who have genuine senior team potential. The then U20s manager Mo Marley was announced as head coach.

Move to U-23 team (2021–present)

This section is an excerpt from England women's national under-23 football team § Return of U-23 level (2021–present).[edit]

In October 2021, the FA announced the return of an under-23 team as newly appointed senior manager Sarina Wiegman looked to increase international playing opportunities for promising players in the senior pathway, particularly those who had aged out of the under-21 squad. Mo Marley was appointed head coach and tasked with also mentoring Emma Coates and Fara Williams as coaches.[1] The move came off the back of the cancellation of two editions of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship and one FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, further limiting opportunities for youth international experience.[2]

Under-20 World Cups

2018 Under-20 World Cup

In 2018 they finished third at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, their best ever finish at the tournament. They won the play-off for third 4–2 on penalties against the host nation France.[3] In the knockout rounds, they overcame tournament debutants the Netherlands 2–1 in the quarter-finals before losing 2–0 to Japan, which was the first time England they had reached the semi-final stage.[4][5]

2026 Under-20 World Cup

England Women's Under-19s confirmed England's qualification for the 2026 Under-20 World Cup in June 2025[6], despite finishing 3rd in their group at the 2025 Under-19 European Championship[7].

A group of Under-19 and Under-20 players were announced for the first Under-20 training camp in over 7 years on 19 November 2025, with games against China PR, USA and Mexico to be played in Murcia, Spain. England Women's Under-19s Head Coach Lauren Smith took control of the Under-20s as they beat Mexico and China, and lost to a strong USA Under-20 side.[8]

Competitive record

FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup

FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Canada 2002 Quarter-finals 6th 4 1 1 2 7 11
Thailand 2004 Did not qualify
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Russia 2006 Did not qualify
Chile 2008 Quarter-finals 8th 4 1 2 1 4 5
Germany 2010 Group stage 13th 3 0 1 2 2 5
Japan 2012 Did not qualify
Canada 2014 Group stage 11th 3 0 2 1 3 4
Papua New Guinea 2016 Did not qualify
France 2018 Third place 3rd 6 3 2 1 13 7
Costa Rica 2022 Did not qualify
Colombia 2024 Did not qualify
Poland 2026 To be determined
Total 5/12 3rd 20 5 8 7 29 32

Head-to-head record

The following table shows England's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Current squad

Head coach Lauren Smith named a 24-player squad to take part in a training camp, including three international fixtures to be played at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain.[9]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1GK Eve Annets (2006-03-19) 19 March 2006 The Football Association Crystal Palace (loan)
1GK Sophie Jackson (2008-10-18) 18 October 2008 The Football Association Tottenham Hotspur
1GK Kaiya Jota (2006-02-05) 5 February 2006 The Football Association Stanford Cardinal
1GK Sophia Poor (2006-06-25) 25 June 2006 The Football Association London City Lionesses
2DF Damilola Atinaro The Football Association Brighton & Hove Albion
2DF Ria Bose (2006-02-07) 7 February 2006 The Football Association West Ham United
2DF Sophie Harwood (2007-06-25) 25 June 2007 The Football Association Arsenal
2DF Nelly Las (2007-12-17) 17 December 2007 The Football Association Ipswich Town (loan)
2DF Rachel Maltby (2007-03-25) 25 March 2007 The Football Association Aston Villa
2DF Lucy Newell (2006-10-02) 2 October 2006 The Football Association Crystal Palace (loan)
2DF Jessica Pegram (2007-04-14) 14 April 2007 Scottish Football Association Rangers (loan)
2DF Cecily Wellesley-Smith (2007-01-04) 4 January 2007 The Football Association Leicester City (loan)
3MF May Cruft (2009-09-06) 6 September 2009 Scottish Football Association Rangers
3MF Laila Harbert (2007-01-03) 3 January 2007 The Football Association Everton (loan)
3MF Chloe Hylton (2007-04-25) 25 April 2007 United States Soccer Federation Carolina Ascent
3MF Omotara Junaid (2007-10-04) 4 October 2007 United States Soccer Federation Florida State Seminoles
3MF Vivienne Lia (2006-09-27) 27 September 2006 Swedish Football Association Hammarby IF (loan)
3MF Taylor Warren (2008-11-30) 30 November 2008 The Football Association Brighton & Hove Albion
4FW Princess Ademiluyi (2006-07-14) 14 July 2006 The Football Association Ipswich Town (loan)
4FW Jessica Anderson (2008-03-20) 20 March 2008 The Football Association Manchester United
4FW Ava Baker (2006-01-09) 9 January 2006 The Football Association Ipswich Town (loan)
4FW Jessie Gale (2006-08-23) 23 August 2006 The Football Association Portsmouth (loan)
4FW Jane Oboavwoduo (2009-12-29) 29 December 2009 The Football Association Manchester City
4FW Lois Shooter (2008-01-06) 6 January 2008 The Football Association Chelsea

Recent Call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the England under-20 squad within the last twelve months.

Names in bold denote players who have been capped by England in a higher age group. This list may be incomplete.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
DF Chloe Sarwie (2008-12-19) 19 December 2008 - - England Chelsea
MF Vera Jones INJ (2008-02-18) 18 February 2008 - - England Bristol City (loan)
MF Eva Hendle INJ (2008-04-30) 30 April 2008 - - England Chelsea
  • INJ = Withdrew due to injury

Recent schedule and results

This list includes match results from the past 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

26 November 2025 Friendly Chile  1–2  England Murcia, Spain
  • Jiaxuan 58'
 Report
Stadium: Pinatar Arena
29 November 2025 Friendly England  1–4  United States Murcia, Spain
  • Gale 93'
 Report
Stadium: Pinatar Arena
2 December 2025 Friendly  Mexico 2–3 England  Murcia, Spain
  • Valadez 5'
  • Fragoso Garcia 51'
 Report
Stadium: Pinatar Arena

2026

28 February 2026 Albir Garden Tournament  Spain v  England Alicante, Spain
11:00 GMT (UTC+0) Stadium: Albir Garden Stadium
3 March 2026 Albir Garden Tournament  England v  Netherlands Alicante, Spain
15:00 GMT (UTC+0) Stadium: Albir Garden Stadium
Albir Garden Tournament  England v  Italy Alicante, Spain
Stadium: Albir Garden Stadium

References

  1. ^ Association, The Football. "England Women's U23s squad named for Belgium trip in October 2021". englandfootball.com.
  2. ^ Frith, Wilf (18 November 2020). "FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women's World Cups cancelled". SheKicks. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  3. ^ "England claim third place on penalties". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  4. ^ "England women beat Netherlands to reach semi-finals in France". BBC Sport. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  5. ^ "U20 World Cup: England women suffer semi-final defeat to superior Japan". BBC Sport. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Spain headline European qualifiers for Poland 2026". FIFA. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  7. ^ UEFA.com. "Spain-England | Women's Under-19 2025". UEFA.com. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  8. ^ England, The FA. "Report: Mexico 2-3 England WU20s". England Football. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  9. ^ England Football, FA. "England WU20s squad named for Spain trip". England Football. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
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