Report: England WU20s 5-1 Tanzania

Rachel Maltby’s first-half hat-trick helped England to their first win of the 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup as they defeated Tanzania 5-1 at the Bielsko-Biala Stadium.

Princess Ademiluyi opened the scoring in a blistering England start before Maltby added two from the spot and a third from a well-worked team goal before the break.

Jamila Mnunduka and Jessie Gale exchanged goals in the second half as England claimed all three points to place them second in Group B after two matches.

There were early warning signs for Tanzania as Ademiluyi twice found herself on the end of probing long balls in the box inside the opening ten minutes as England dominated.

They made that pressure pay when Ademiluyi was presented with a clearer-cut chance, turning home Vivienne Lia’s cross at the back post for her first of the tournament on nine minutes.

Ademiluyi was once again at the centre of the action five minutes later when she was pushed in the back by Lidya Kabambo while controlling a looping ball in the box.

Maltby made no mistake from the resulting penalty, slotting home confidently into the bottom left corner for her second of the tournament to put England 2-0 up.

At the other end, Katie Cox faced her first real test approaching the half-hour mark as Winfrida Gerald turned the ball over high up the pitch to put herself through on goal.

She raced into the box but Cox was off her line quickly to close down the angles and save with her feet.

Ademiluyi nearly had her second just moments later as a brilliant run from Chloe Hylton set her up to drive a powerful half-volley goalwards, but she saw it well saved by Nusra Jafari.

The England number nine continued to cause problems for the Tanzania defence, hitting the woodwork, hassling the keeper and forcing a fingertip save from Nusra in quick succession.

But it was from the spot once again that England notched their third. Vera Jones drew the foul as she was clipped from behind by Elizabeth Mwimi in the box and Maltby varied her technique as she fired the penalty high into the roof of the net.

It was only minutes later that Maltby completed her first-half hat-trick, capping a brilliant team move by coolly slotting home at the back post in stoppage time.

The passage had started with Lucy Newell in defence, and nine consecutive England passes later, Lily Dent picked out an unmarked Maltby to make it 4-0 at half-time.

The Young Lionesses started as they had left off with Ademiluyi unlucky to hit the woodwork for a second time in the match as her attempt from Lia’s cross ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar on 47 minutes.

Lia proved a persistent threat off the right and ten minutes later set up Jones, who turned a scuffed shot just wide.

But it was Tanzania who were next on the scoresheet as Diana Mnally’s looping cross caught the England defence off guard as it bounced back in front of the goal off the far post.

Cox was able to claw away their first attempt but could do nothing to stop Mnunduka’s follow-up to make it 4-1 on 65 minutes.

Substitute Gale restored the four-goal deficit minutes later as she poked home Lia’s cross for her first of the tournament.

Two further goals were ruled out for offside in the closing stages. Cecily Wellesley-Smith had the ball in the back of the net, but Gale was judged to have been offside in the build-up, before Winfrida Gerald was deemed offside for her stoppage-time effort.

England WU20s: 1 Katie Cox (Chelsea, on loan to Nottingham Forest); 12 Rachel Maltby (Aston Villa), 15 Lucy Newell (Manchester United), 6 Cecily Wellesley-Smith (Arsenal, on loan to FC Rosengård), 3 Chloe Sarwie (Chelsea); 18 Lily Dent (Brighton & Hove Albion, on loan to Sunderland), 4 May Cruft (Rangers), 14 Chloe B. Hylton (Carolina Ascent); 8 Vivienne Lia (Eintracht Frankfurt), 9 Princess Ademiluyi (Gotham FC, on loan to Ipswich Town), 11 Vera Jones (Chelsea, on loan to Watford)

Substitutes: 10 Lola Brown (Chelsea) for Dent 46’, 19 Jessie Gale (Arsenal, on loan to Newcastle) for Ademiluyi 61’, 16 Eva Hendle (Chelsea, on loan to Rangers) for Maltby 61’, 20 Sacha Lewis (Manchester City) for Cruft 61’, 17 Layla Drury (Manchester United) for Lia 80’

Subs not used: 13 Kaiya Jota (Stanford University), 21 Eve Annets (Manchester City, on loan to Hibernian), 2 Ria Bose (West Ham), 5 Zara Shaw (Liverpool), 7 Eleanor Klinger (Stanford University)

Head coach: Lydia Bedford

Goals: Ademiluyi 9’, Maltby (pen) 15’, (pen) 43’, 45+5’, Gale 74’

Yellow cards: Hylton 54’

Tanzania WU20s: 1 Nusra Jafari; 4 Lidya Kabambo, 16 Ester Maseke, 17 Veronica Mapunda, 15 Diana Mnally; 6 Elizabeth Mwimi, 13 Alia Salum; 9 Bahati Kizanguzi, 8 Mary Siyame, 3 Winfrida Gerald; 11 Jamila Mnunduka

Substitutes: 12 Asha Omary for Salum 55’, 10 Winfrida Charles for Mnunduka 68’

Subs not used: 18 Mariam Manyerere, 20 Rhobi Ngeya, 2 Neema Damas, 5 Edina Makamba, 14 Christer Bazil, 19 Milembe John, 21 Winifrida Castor
Head coach: Bakari Shime

Goals: Mnunduka 65’

Yellow cards: Kizanguzi 63’