England men's under-17 squad announced for trip to face France and Luxembourg

Tom Curtis has named his 21-man squad as England men’s under-17s look to book their place in this summer’s U17 EURO Finals in Israel.

In December the Young Lions were drawn with France, Luxembourg and Russia in UEFA EURO elite round Group 5.

But Russia have since been banned from competing due to the war in Ukraine meaning MU17s will now face just hosts Luxembourg and France this month.

There are 15 places up for grabs to join hosts Israel at the U17 EURO Finals in May, with the eight group winners qualifying and the initial proposal was for the seven best runners-up to also secure a spot at the Finals based on points in the group.

However, Russia’s omission and the reduced size of Group 5 means only the matches of the runners-up against the winner and third-placed teams are taken into account across all eight groups to decide the other seven teams who will qualify.

England MU17s will first face France on Saturday 26 March (kick-off 3pm British time) before looking to secure qualification against Luxembourg on Tuesday 29 March (kick-off 5pm British time).

Curtis’ side qualified for the elite round back in October, when they beat Armenia and Belarus before being held to a draw by Slovakia in their final game.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: True Grant (Manchester City), Luca Gunter (Tottenham Hotspur), Tommy Setford (Ajax)

Defenders: Jayden Barber (Aston Villa), Jake Batty (Blackburn Rovers), Joshua Feeney (Aston Villa), Tyler Fredricson (Manchester United), Habeeb Ogunneye (Manchester United), Ishé Samuels-Smith (Everton), Calum Scanlon (Liverpool)

Midfielders: William Alves (Leicester City), Leo Castledine (Chelsea), Archie Gray (Leeds United), Rio Kyerematen (Tottenham Hotspur), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City)

Forwards: Amario Cozier-Duberry (Arsenal), Jamie Donley (Tottenham Hotspur), Tudor Mendel-Idowu (Chelsea), Ronnie Stutter (Chelsea), Emre Tezgel (Stoke City)