Young goalkeeper Lanre Awesu has been selected as part of Neil Ryan’s 21-player squad for England in the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals in Qatar this November.
Ryan’s Young Lions have been drawn in a group with Venezuela, Haiti and Egypt and will be looking to follow in the footsteps of the group from 2017, when a squad featuring the likes of Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Marc Guéhi, Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Conor Gallagher won the tournament for the first and only time in England's history in India.
Awesu becomes just the eighth Academy of Football player to be selected for a FIFA U-17 World Cup finals. following England's Jordan Spence in 2007, Deniz Mehmet for Turkey in 2009, England's Blair Turgott and the late Dylan Tombides for Australia in 2011, Daniel Jinadu for Nigeria and Krisztián Hegyi for Hungary in 2019, and goalkeeper Finlay Herrick for England in 2023.
Awesu signed his first professional contract in April and has six caps in total for England across the U17s and U18s age groups. He will follow in the footsteps of senior Academy teammate and fellow goalkeeper Herrick, currently on loan at National League Boreham Wood, who was part of the England squad that contested the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup in Indonesia.
The 17-year-old shot stopper made his international debut at U17s level last season, keeping a clean sheet in a 5-0 win over Mexico in Duisburg, a match in which West Ham teammate Andre Dike scored. Awesu stepped up to the U18s, alongside the rest of 2008-born Young Lions this season, featuring in a 5-1 victory over Morocco in October this year.
Awesu and his teammates will travel to the Middle East for the tournament which runs from 3-27 November and is the first edition to feature 48 nations, now mirroring the format of the senior men’s FIFA World Cup finals.
From this year, the tournament will take place annually and will have 48 participating teams. Divided into 12 groups of four teams, the top two teams from each group and the eight best third-place teams will advance to round of 32.
Ahead of the tournament, lead coach Ryan, who has overseen the 2008 age group for the last two years said: “You see the men’s U21s in the summer, winning the EUROs for the second time in a row. You look at the women winning the EUROs again. The Football Association is a giant organisation and on the walls in the building, you see the pictures of the teams who have won titles. That's what we’re all striving for. Now it's our turn to try to get a trophy.”
All group and knockout games are being staged at the Aspire Football Zone in Doha and will be shown live on the FIFA+ channel, with the final scheduled to be played at the Khalifa International Stadium on Thursday 27 November.
