KOLKATA: England head coach Steve Cooper today announced a 21-member squad for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in India from October 6 to 28. Cooper has included most of the players who had helped England to qualify for the World Cup after reaching the final of the U-17 European Championship last season.
The squad played two warm-up games in September, drawing against Brazil in Shrewsbury before suffering a 1-2 defeat against South Africa in Leek. Jadon Sancho, who missed the September get-together while completing a switch from Manchester City to Borussia Dortmund, is a new inclusion to the group. Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, who has impressed with his form at Stamford Bridge for their U-18s, has also been included in the England squad for the first time. England enjoyed a strong campaign last time around, reaching the Euro Finals in Croatia with distinction before suffering their first defeat of the season in a penalty shoot-out in the final against Spain.
The 2011 quarter-finalists will travel to India this week for a pre-World Cup training camp in Mumbai, where they will play a warm-up game with New Zealand on October 1. After that, they will shift their base to Kolkata where they open their World Cup campaign against Chile on October 8. Their second game will see them up against Mexico three days later before their final group game against Iraq on October 14. England's previous two U-17 World Cup campaigns were in Chile and Mexico. The Young Lions travelled to Chile for the 2015 edition of the competition, when Cooper was on the coaching staff as Neil Dewsnip's assistant.
Unfortunately, after beating the host nation in a pre- tournament friendly in Santiago, England featuring the likes of Everton's Tom Davies and Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold went out in the group stages. Prior to that, England's 2011 campaign saw John Peacock's side reach the quarterfinals in Mexico. That squad contained players such as Jordan Pickford, Nathaniel Chalobah, Nathan Redmond and Raheem Sterling. England U-17 squad: Goalkeepers: Curtis Anderson (Manchester City), Josef Bursik (Stoke City), William Crelin (Fleetwood Town) Defenders: Timothy Eyoma (Tottenham Hotspur), Joel Latibeaudiere (Manchester City), Marc Guéhi (Chelsea), Jonathan Panzo (Chelsea), Lewis Gibson (Everton), Steven Sessegnon (Fulham), Morgan Gibbs White (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tashan Oakley Boothe (Tottenham Hotspur) Midfielders: Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Angel Gomes (Manchester United), Nya Kirby (Crystal Palace), George McEachran (Chelsea) Forwards: Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Callum Hudson Odoi (Chelsea), Philip Foden (Manchester City), Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal), Rhian Brewster (Liverpool), Danny Loader (Reading).