How can England defend their UEFA European U21 Championship title? | OneFootball

The UEFA Under 21 European Championship kicks off today and England will be looking to retain their title from two years ago when they beat Spain in the final to clinch the trophy.

Lee Carsley‘s preparation for the tournament has been less than ideal, with key players Liam Delap and Jobe Bellingham dropping out on the eve of the tournament. Both have made high profile moves to big clubs and will be playing in the Club World Cup, for Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

Carsley’s squad has been massively affected by the tournament in America, with Jamie Gittens and Rico Lewis also opting to play for their clubs. To make matters worse, Adam Wharton and Jaden Philogene are injured and therefore unavailable.

James McAtee, however, opted to play for England over Manchester City and will captain the national side.

In 2023 the squad included Cole Palmer, Morgan Gibbs‑White, Anthony Gordon, Levi Colwill and Curtis Jones. They do not possess the same star-studded lineup this time around, and much of the responsibility will fall on the young shoulders of 18-year-old Ethan Nwaneri.

The forward enjoyed a breakthrough campaign at club level for Arsenal and will be hoping he can continue or better his fine performances in this tournament.

England start the competition with a game against Czech Republic before facing Slovenia and ending the group stage with a difficult test against another one of the favourites, Germany.

If England progress into the quarter-finals they will likely face either Spain or Italy, neither ideal opposition to face so early on.

Carsley has been resolute in his remarks before the competition and will need to keep faith in his young group, who will be aiming to win England’s fourth U21 Euro title.

Impressively, when they won this tournament two years ago they did so without conceding a single goal. James Trafford, who was a penalty-saving hero last time out, is in the squad again, and also at the centre of transfer rumours linking him to Newcastle.

Over 220,000 tickets have been sold for this tournament, proving the demand is there. And if Carsley can get this side deep into the competition it will certainly capture the interest of the English public.