England MU20s learn FIFA U20 World Cup draw

England men’s under-20s have found out who they will face at this summer’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina.

The Young Lions were drawn out in Group E alongside Uruguay, Iraq and Tunisia at the tournament, which is set to take place between 20 May and 11 June.

The 24 teams who will compete for the U20 World Cup were placed in six groups of four, with the top two and four best third-placed countries advancing to the knockout stage. 

The draw was made at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Friday afternoon and was conducted by FIFA director of tournaments Jaime Yarza alongside former internationals Juan Pablo Sorin and David Trezeguet, with Samantha Johnson presenting.

And England have previously come up against two of their group opponents at U20 World Cups in relatively recent years. They took on Uruguay in their opening group game at the 2009 edition in Egypt, when a Young Lions team featuring the likes of Kieran Trippier and Ben Mee lost 1-0 to a late goal in Ismailia.

England faced Iraq in their first game of the 2013 U20 World Cup in Turkey, when they drew 2-2 in Antalya. First-half goals from Conor Coady and Luke Williams put Peter Taylor's team ahead, only for Iraq to score two late goals and share the points. Among the England line-up for that game were current senior internationals Eric Dier, John Stones, Harry Kane and James Ward-Prowse.

There were four pots of countries from which the teams were drawn and, where possible, FIFA attempt to avoid having more than one side from the same confederation drawn in each group.

The full schedule of the fixtures will be announced in due course.

This England MU20 squad and coaching staff is largely the same group that lifted the UEFA U19 EURO title last summer with a 3-1 victory over Israel.

They will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 2017 class who lifted the FIFA U-20 World Cup, a side which included the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Dean Henderson and Kyle Walker-Peters.

FIFA U-20 World Cup draw in full

Group A
Argentina, Uzbekistan, Guatemala, New Zealand
Group B
USA, Ecuador, Fiji, Slovakia

Group C
Senegal, Japan, Israel, Colombia

Group D
Italy, Brazil, Nigeria, Dominican Republic

Group E
Uruguay, Iraq, England, Tunisia

Group F
France, Korea Republic, The Gambia, Honduras