West Ham United Academy defender Airidas Golambeckis has been called up to the England U19s squad for three UEFA European U19 Championship qualifiers this month.
Our U21s captain, who this week penned a new contract until the summer of 2029, has featured in all five friendly fixtures for Will Antwi’s Young Lions so far this season.
Golambeckis had previously represented his parents’ native Lithuania at U16s level before switching his allegiance to England last year and going on to represent the U18s on nine occasions throughout the 2024/25 season.
Now with the U19s, the young Hammer and his England teammates have been drawn in Euro qualifying Group 8. They will face hosts Lithuania on Wednesday 12 November (4pm GMT) and Latvia on Saturday 15 November (10am GMT), before concluding their first-round qualifying campaign against Josh Landers’ Scotland on Tuesday 18 November (10am GMT). All three games will take place in the Lithuanian town of Raudondvaris.
The top two teams in each group as well as the best third-placed team will join top seeds Spain in the elite round draw on 10 December. The elite round in spring 2026 will determine the seven nations joining hosts Wales in the finals, scheduled to take place between 28 June and 11 July 2026.
