Peter Taylor selects squad for Under 20 World Cup

England’s U20 head coach Peter Taylor has named his final 21-man squad for the upcoming U20 World Cup that is set to take place in Turkey.

Taylor had drawn up a provincial list of 35 players for the tournament, at the beginning of the month, before it was narrowed down to a final draft of 21-man group.

Taylor has stated that he couldn’t be happier with this season’s picks as it contains some internationally reputed and experienced players who have managed to impress the head coach in the last few months of the season. Leeds United right-back Sam Byram, Newcastle midfielder Gael Bigirimana and Tottenham Hotspur’s Alex Pritchard are all part of the carefully handpicked group. This will be doubly important for the players as it will be t heir first experience with an England squad.

Some of the squad’s members are last year’s Under 19 players who managed to make it to the European U19 Championship semifinal in Estonia.

The likes of Sam Johnstone, Connor Ripley, Tom Thorpe, Eric Dier, Ross Barkley, Conor Coady, Harry Kane and John Lundstram were all among Noel Blake’s group which secured qualification for the World Cup.

The England squad will feature in Antalya for their first two group games against Iraq on 23 June and Chile on 26 June. They will then move to Bursa for the final group game against African champions Egypt on 29 June.

The team is set to meet up at St. George’s Park on June 3rd to practice for the tournament before flying out to Turkey on Wednesday 12 June for more training

The squad lineup is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone (Manchester United), George Long (Sheffield United), Connor Ripley (Middlesbrough).

Defenders: Sam Byram (Leeds United), Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon), Jon Flanagan (Liverpool), Jamaal Lascelles (Nottingham Forest), Danny Potts (West Ham United), Adam Reach (Middlesbrough), John Stones (Everton), Tom Thorpe (Manchester United).

Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Gael Bigirimana (Newcastle United), Conor Coady (Liverpool), Larnell Cole (Manchester United), John Lundstram (Everton), James Ward Prowse (Southampton).

Forwards: Chris Long (Everton), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke Williams (Middlesbrough)..