Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott were crowned European champions with England on Saturday evening as the young Lions defeated Spain.
Lee Carsley’s side, who had won all five of their games en-route to the final without conceding a goal, ran out 1-0 winners to become only the third England side to win the Under-21s European Championships. Jones netted the winning goal on the night and was named Player of the Match for his performance.
The young Lions twice won the tournament in the eighties, in 1982 and 1984, but had only once reached the final since then with Liverpool legend James Milner part of the side that lost to Germany in 2009.
For the record, former Reds Sammy Lee, Steve McMahon, and David Hodgson all featured in 1982, while Paul Walsh and Howard Gayle were members of the 1984 squad.
As a result, Jones and Elliott helped end ‘40 years of hurt’ for the young Lions, with both playing their part for the Under-21s out in Romania and Georgia. The former has been one of the stars of the tournament, and put in a man-of-the-match performance in England’s semi-final win over Israel, while the latter, who has admittedly been predominantly limited to a substitute role, scored a spectacular individual goal against Germany when making his only start.
While England’s ‘patchy’ international record is well-documented, a number of Reds have actually enjoyed international success with the young Lions during the Premier League era. While success for Jones and Elliott is the most high-profile, coming at the more senior stage, we take a look at Liverpool’s previous champions they have managed to emulate…
Under-20s World champions - 2017
England Under-20s were crowned World champions in 2017, with two then-Reds part of Paul Simpson’s squad out in South Korea. Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp would sign the young Lions’ star of the tournament later that summer.
Sheyi Ojo and Ovie Ejaria would make five and three appearances respectively for England at the tournament, with the former claiming an assist after coming off the bench in the semi-final win over Italy.
Both starting just once at the tournament, Ojo came off the bench in the final as the young Lions beat Venezuela 1-0, while Ejaria was left unused.
In contrast, imminent Liverpool player Dominic Solanke won the Golden Ball for best player, scoring four goals to fire England to World glory. An ever-present throughout, the then Chelsea man was on the scoresheet in the young Lions' opening 3-0 victory over Argentina, before scoring the winner in their 1-0 quarter-final win over Mexico, and a brace in their 3-1 semi-final dismantling of Italy.
Solanke would leave Liverpool after just 18 months in January 2019, having scored one goal from 27 appearances for Klopp’s side, as he was sold to AFC Bournemouth for an initial £19m. He remains with the Cherries to date, and scored six Premier League goals last season as they avoided relegation.
Ejaria was sold to Reading in a £3.5m deal in August 2020 after a successful loan, having made eight appearances for Liverpool. Meanwhile, Ojo joined Cardiff City on a free transfer last summer, having made 13 appearances and scored one goal for the Reds, but having not played competitively for the first team since January 2017.
Under-19s European champions - 2022
England have technically been crowned European champions at this level on 11 occasions. However, eligibility rules changed in 1997 with the European Championships rebranded as an Under-19s tournament rather than Under-18s in 2001 as a result.
The young Lions have twice won the tournament when entering an Under-19s side, in 2017 and 2022. And while there was no Liverpool representation in the former, it was a different story last summer in Slovakia.
Current Reds academy stars Jarell Quansah, Luke Chambers, and Harvey Davies were all members of the successful side, though, as third-choice goalkeeper, the latter was left unused.
In contrast, Quansah started all five games for Ian Foster’s side, helping keep a clean sheet for all three group-games, scoring the winner in the semi-final victory over Italy, and then assisting the equaliser in the young Lions’ 3-1 AET win over Israel in the final.
Making four appearances throughout the tournament, Chambers came on as a substitute against Israel in the final in the 85th minute, with his only start coming against the same opponents in England’s final group game.
Both Quansah and Chambers enjoyed successful loans at Bristol Rovers and Kilmarnock respectively during the second half of last season, while Davies has recently joined Crewe Alexandra on loan for the season.
While none of the trio have yet played competitively for Klopp’s side, Quansah has made three unused substitute appearances, Chambers has been on the bench twice, and Davies has made 11 matchday squad appearances - including for last season’s Community Shield win over Man City.
Under-18s European champions - 1993
When the European Championships at this level was still an Under-18s tournament, hosts England last won it back in 1993 with Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler one of the stars of the tournament.
The striker would end up winning the Golden Boot with five goals, despite spending the majority of the tournament as a number 10 at the tip of a midfield diamond behind Julian Joachim and either Jamie Forrester or Kevin Gallen.
Then only 18, and still two months off his Liverpool debut, Fowler opened the tournament by coming off the bench to score in a 2-0 win over France with an outrageous 25-yard lob with his ‘weaker’ right foot. The strike would earn the teenager a start for the young Lions’ second group match against the Netherlands, where he was on the scoresheet once again.
Fowler then scored a hat-trick in England’s final group game against Spain as they ran out 5-1 winners after Javi Moreno, who would score against Liverpool for Alaves in the 2001 UEFA Cup final eight years later, was sent off just three minutes after coming on at half-time. He’d receive his first booking after 40 seconds for barging the referee and/or standing on his toes, depending on which report you read, and was then dismissed for going through Gary Neville with a two-footed challenge.
With that victory setting up a final showdown with Turkey, England ran out 1-0 winners to be crowned champions of Europe. While Fowler was unable to add to his five-goal tally, he still finished three goals clear of every other player to lift the Golden Boot.
Now 30 years on, and the striker is one of Liverpool’s favourites sons and one of their most popular legends. Boasting 183 goals from 369 appearances across two spells with the club, he won the League Cup (twice), FA Cup, UEFA Cup, and European Super Cup with the Reds.
Fowler was recently appointed manager of Saudi side Al-Qadsiah.
Under-17s World champions - 2017
Former Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster was one of the star men when England were memorably crowned Under-17s World champions in 2017.
Scoring an incredible eight goals out in India to win the Golden Boot, he was also awarded the Bronze Ball as the third-best player at the tournament. The striker started all but one of the young Lions’ seven matches at the tournament, and scored back-to-back hat-tricks to fire them to the final.
First opening the scoring in England's second group-game as they ran out 3-2 winners over Mexico, he scored his spot-kick as the young Lions required penalties to see off Japan in the round-of-16. He'd then hit trebles in 4-1 and 3-1 victories over USA and Brazil in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, setting up the other goal in the former.
While England would find themselves 2-0 down in the final against Spain, Brewster halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time, with the young Lions going on to clinch a 5-2 victory.
Making four senior appearances for the Reds, Brewster was an unused substitute as Liverpool won both the Champions League and European Super Cup in 2019. He left the Reds for Sheffield United in a £23.5m deal in October 2020, but has made a minimal impact at Bramall Lane with injury sidelining him for most of last season as the Blades won promotion back to the Premier League.
Under-17s European champions - 2010 and 2014
As well as winning the World Cup in 2017, England Under-17s have also won the European Championships on two occasions - in 2010 and 2014. There were two former Liverpool players competing in the former, while two further Reds were part of the latter success.
Conor Coady and Andre Wisdom were both members of the 2010-winning side, as the young Lions took part in 80-minute matches out in Liechtenstein.
Missing the opening game against Czech Republic, Coady was an ever-present for the rest of the tournament as he captained the young Lions to glory. Meanwhile, Wisdom was an ever-present throughout and was decisive at both ends in the final win over Spain. Having opened the scoring with an own goal, the Liverpool defender equalised as England went on to record a 2-1 win.
Four years later, England were victorious in the tournament again with Solanke and Joe Gomez this time part of the young Lions camp out in Malta. The former would end up sharing the Golden Boot with four goals, while the latter, still then a Charlton Athletic player, was named in the team of the tournament.
Gomez would start all five matches at centre-back, and even claimed an assist for Solanke, while the striker would start all four of his four appearances. Netting a brace in England’s second group game against Turkey as they ran out 4-1 winners, he was on the scoresheet again when restored to the starting XI for the young Lions’ 2-0 semi-final win over Portugal.
Solanke would then open the scoring in the final against the Netherlands as England won 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
