Report: England MU20s 1-1 France

England men’s under-20s battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw with France in Marbella.

It was the final game of the international window for Ian Foster’s side after recording impressive 2-0 and 4-2 wins over Germany and the USA respectively in the last week.

The MU20s are preparing for this summer’s FIFA U20 World Cup, having won the UEFA U19 EURO last summer.

Chelsea duo Harvey Vale and Humphreys linked up to open the scoring on ten minutes, as the Young Lions skipper sent a deep free-kick swinging into the box and the centre back, who is currently on loan at Paderborn, ran in behind the defence to side-foot home.

Midfielder Alex Scott almost doubled the advantage when he rattled the post with a header following Vale's cross from the left.

But France equalised just before the break though after a slick move ended with Mohamed-Ali Cho sliding the ball to Alan Virginius to tap into the empty net.

It was an entertaining contest, with England creating several good chances. Substitute Dane Scarlett was one of those to go close with a curled effort which went narrowly wide.

Les Bleus would have gone ahead themselves midway through the second period had it not been for a superb save by Matthew Cox when one-on-one with Sepe Elye Wahi.

England almost grabbed a winner in the final couple of minutes when substitute Sam Iling-Junior curled in a dangerous cross which was headed just wide by fellow replacement Ronnie Edwards.

And deep into injury time, Cox produced another fine save to ensure his side remained unbeaten in this international window when he saved low to his right from a header by Florent Da Silva.

England: 1 Matthew Cox (Brentford), 2 Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Coventry City, loan from Arsenal), 3 Callum Doyle (Coventry City, loan from Manchester City), 4 Alex Scott (Bristol City), 5 Bashir Humphreys (Paderborn, loan from Chelsea), 6 Jarell Quansah (Bristol Rovers, loan from Liverpool), 7 Alfie Devine (Tottenham Hotspur), 8 Carney Chukwuemeka (Chelsea), 9 Liam Delap (Preston North End, loan from Manchester City), 10 Aaron Ramsey (Middlesbrough, loan from Aston Villa), 11 Harvey Vale (Chelsea) (c)

Substitutes: 19 Dane Scarlett (Portsmouth, loan from Tottenham Hotspur) for Delap 64, 18 Mateo Joseph (Leeds United) for Vale 79, 20 Sam Iling-Junior (Juventus) for Ramsey 79, 12 Daniel Oyegoke (Brentford) for Norton-Cuffy 79, 15 Ronnie Edwards (Peterborough United) for Doyle 79, 14 Dominic Corness (Liverpool) for Scott 83

Substitutes not used: 13 Harvey Davies (Liverpool), 16 Luke Mbete (Bolton Wanderers, loan from Manchester City), 17 Sam Edozie (Southampton), 22 Owen Goodman (Crystal Palace)

Head coach: Ian Foster

Goal: Bashir Humphreys 10

Bookings: Alex Scott 41, Liam Delap 49, Carney Chukwuemeka 57