England’s Under-21 team have conquered the Toulon Tournament for a third successive time, with EFL defender Dael Fry one of three England players making the Team of the Tournament.
Fry, who appeared 18 times for Middlesbrough this season, started every match in France. He also scored England’s first goal of the tournament in the victory against China PR, before prodding home the equaliser in the final against Mexico.
The Young Lions – many of which have gained experience in the EFL – fell behind in the final within the first two minutes, but the Boro man’s leveller and Kieran Dowell’s finish from Eddie Nketiah’s cross flipped the deficit and ensured England would be crowned champions once again.
The winning goal caps off a great season for Dowell, who broke into the Nottingham Forest first team whilst on loan from Everton and fired 10 goals in 43 midfield appearances for the Sky Bet Championship outfit.
As well as providing the assist for Dowell, Nketiah bagged a brace against Scotland en route to the final, replicating his headline-grabbing double from when he scored his first professional goals for Arsenal in the Carabao Cup back in October.
Joining Fry in the Tournament XI was Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook and Newcastle United goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, who have played 99 EFL league and cup matches between them.
Cook, the former Leeds United starlet, captained the Young Lions after leading the U20s to World Cup success in the summer, and was voted the tournament’s second-best player behind Mexico’s Diego Lainez.
Including Fry, four current players from the EFL made the 20-man squad that travelled to France, with Ezri Konsa, who Brentford signed from Charlton Athletic three days after the final, and Leeds United duo Tom Pearce and Ronaldo Vieira all making the cut – the latter scoring against Qatar.
The EFL wants to congratulate the entire squad and coaching staff on another fantastic achievement.
England’s tournament winners have once again shown fantastic potential and all have experience in EFL competitions, albeit on loan in the Sky Bet EFL, competing in the Carabao Cup, or taking part in the Checkatrade Trophy.
England U21 2018 Toulon Tournament winners
- Freddie Woodman: Newcastle United (Crawley Town)
- Jonjoe Kenny: Everton (Carabao Cup, Oxford, Wigan)
- Kyle Walker-Peters: Tottenham Hotspur (Carabao Cup)
- Lewis Cook: Bournemouth (Carabao Cup and Leeds)
- Dael Fry: Middlesbrough (Rotherham)
- Fikayo Tomori: Chelsea (Hull, Brighton and Checkatrade Trophy)
- Kieran Dowell: Everton (Nottingham Forest)
- Tom Davies: Everton (Carabao Cup)
- Tammy Abraham: Chelsea (Carabao Cup and Bristol City)
- Ronaldo Vieira: Leeds United
- Adam Armstrong: Newcastle United (Blackburn, Bolton, Barnsley and Carabao Cup)
- Jake Clarke-Salter: Chelsea (Checkatrade Trophy, Sunderland, Carabao Cup and Bristol Rovers)
- Aaron Ramsdale: Bournemouth (Chesterfield)
- Jay Da Silva: Chelsea (Charlton and Checkatrade Trophy)
- Ezri Konsa: Brentford (Charlton Athletic)
- Hamza Choudhury: Leicester City (Carabao Cup, Checkatrade Trophy and Burton)
- Callum Connolly: Everton (Ipswich, Checkatrade Trophy, Wigan and Barnsley)
- Tom Pearce: Leeds United
- Eddie Nketiah: Arsenal (Carabao Cup)
- Lukas Nmecha: Man City (Carabao Cup and Checkatrade Trophy)