The young stars behind England U21s' Euros triumph

Ben Bloom looks at all the key players who helped the Young Lions retain their European Under-21 title Ben Bloom looks at the key players who featured for England in their successful UEFA European Under-21 Championship campaign. England defeated Germany 3-2 in a titanic final on Saturday night, to win the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the second time in a row. After lifting the trophy two years ago, the Young Lions successfully defended their title. It's the first time England U21s have won back-to-back Euros since 1982 and 1984. Lee Carsley's side began the final in Bratislava on the front foot, going 2-0 up through goals from Harvey Elliott - the Player of the Tournament - and Omari Hutchinson in the seventh and 24th minutes respectively. It seemed they would regret some presentable chances to go further ahead, when Germany pulled one back in first-half stoppage time through Nelson Weiper and then drew level with Paul Nebel's 61st-minute strike. However, Jonathan Rowe restored England's lead only two minutes after coming on as a substitute at the start of extra time, and they held on to triumph 3-2, with Germany hitting the crossbar towards the end of the additional 30 minutes, just as they had done in second-half stoppage time. Road to the final The top scorers in qualifying for the tournament, England started slowly in the group stage, beating Czech Republic in their opener before a goalless draw against Slovenia and a defeat against their eventual opponents in the final, Germany. Things improved markedly in the knockout rounds, with wins over Spain (3-1) and Netherlands (2-1) securing England's spot in the final. Meanwhile, Germany went into the game with a 100 per cent record after five straight victories. Carsley, who played in the Premier League for five different clubs, has been head coach of England U21s since 2021. He served a brief period as interim boss of the senior England side last year before Thomas Tuchel’s appointment. Here is a guide to the players who achieved glory in Slovakia on Saturday night. England's key men James Beadle (Brighton) Age: 20 Pos: GoalkeeperEFL Sheff Wed: P57; Oxford: P25; Crewe: P9Premier League 2 Brighton: P15Under-18 Premier League Brighton: P3 Beadle started every game in goal for England and, although he was caught out for the Netherlands' equaliser in the semi-finals, he kept his spot for the final as he looks to prove himself capable of being a top-level No 1. Charlie Cresswell (Toulouse) Age: 22 Pos: DefenderPL Leeds United: P5 G0 A0EFL Millwall: P28 G4 A2; Leeds: P5 G0 A0Premier League 2 Leeds: P16 G0 A0 One of only two members (alongside Elliott) of the title-winning squad two years ago, Cresswell was England’s standout defender during the tournament, scoring in their opening win and relishing his role as a senior figure in the team. Jarell Quansah (Liverpool) Age: 22 Pos: DefenderPL Liverpool: P30 G2 A0Premier League 2 Liverpool: P27 G1 A0Under-18 Premier League Liverpool: P31 G3 A1 Amid speculation about a potential club switch from Liverpool to the German Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, Quansah combined with Cresswell to form a dominant centre-back pairing at the U21 Euros, playing every minute of the tournament. Tino Livramento (Newcastle United) Age: 22 Pos: DefenderPL Newcastle: P63 G1 A1; Southampton: P30 G1 A1Premier League 2 Chelsea: P26 G3 A5Under-18 Premier League Chelsea: P13 G0 A0 Off the back of an excellent domestic campaign with Newcastle, Livramento shone in Slovakia, stealing the show in victory against the Czechs and proving himself adept at either end of the pitch, from either left-back or right-back. Harvey Elliott (Liverpool) Age: 22 Pos: MidfielderPL Liverpool: P92 G5 A10; Fulham: P2 G0 A0EFL Blackburn Rovers: P41 G7 A11Premier League 2 Liverpool: P14 G2 A5Under-18 Premier League Fulham: P18 G5 A4 After topping England’s goalscoring charts in qualifying, the Liverpool man also led the way at the tournament, scoring five times – including both goals in the semi-final win over Netherlands and the opener in the final – as he won a second U21 Euros medal. James McAtee (Manchester City) Age: 21 Pos: MidfielderPL Sheffield United: P30 G3 A3; Man City: P18 G3 A0EFL Sheffield United: P37 G9 A3Premier League 2 Man City: P45 G25 A19Under-18 Premier League Man City: P27 G11 A7 Having opted out of playing at the FIFA Club World Cup with Man City, McAtee started the U21 Euros slowly, but played a key part in the quarter-final and semi-final victories, before captaining his country to victory in the final. Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City) Age: 22 Pos: ForwardPL Fulham: P4 G0 A0EFL Birmingham City: P80 G31 A5; Exeter City: P36 G9 A7; Fulham: P2 G0 A0Under-18 Premier League Fulham: P25 G28 A4 With Carsley deciding not to use a specialist striker throughout the group stage, Stansfield impressed off the bench sufficiently to be handed starting berths in the quarter-final and semi-final, and he led the line again in the final against Germany. Rest of England's squad Ronnie Edwards (Southampton) Age: 22 Pos: DefenderPL Southampton: P1 G0 A0EFL Peterborough United: P121 G1 A2; Queens Park Rangers: P21 G2 A0Premier League 2 Southampton: P2 G0 A0 Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough) Age: 23 Pos: MidfielderEFL Middlesbrough: P99 G9 A7; Scunthorpe United: P28 G0 A2Under-18 Premier League Middlesbrough: P27 G5 A7 Tom Fellows (West Bromwich Albion) Age: 21 Pos: ForwardEFL West Brom: P82 G8 A17; Crawley Town: P38 G0 A2Premier League 2 West Brom: P2 G0 A0Under-18 Premier League West Brom: P28 G8 A8 Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest) Age: 22 Pos: Midfielder PL Newcastle: P44 G0 A3; Nottingham Forest: P37 G2 A6EFL Bristol Rovers: P21 G7 A6Under-18 Premier League Newcastle: P17 G6 A4 Jonathan Rowe (Marseille) Age: 22 Pos: ForwardPL Norwich City: P13 G0 A1EFL Norwich City: P35 G12 A2Under-18 Premier League Norwich City: P28 G12 A3 Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town) Age: 21 Pos: ForwardPL Ipswich: P31 G3 A2; Chelsea: P1 G0 A0EFL Ipswich: P44 G10 A5Premier League 2 Chelsea: P21 G7 A7; Arsenal: P18 G6 A5Under-18 Premier League Arsenal: P20 G7 A7 Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Genoa) Age: 21 Pos: DefenderEFL Millwall: P40 G2 A4; Coventry City: P21 G0 A0; Rotherham United: P20 G0 A2; Lincoln City: P17 G1 A1Premier League 2 Arsenal: P13 G0 A0Under-18 Premier League Arsenal: P14 G0 A1 Tommy Simkin (Stoke City) Age: 20 Pos: GoalkeeperEFL Walsall: P40 G0 A0; Stoke City: P1 G0 A0; Forest Green Rovers: P1 G0 A0Premier League 2 Stoke City: P5 G0 A0Under-18 Premier League Stoke City: P26 G0 A0 Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur) Age: 19 Pos: Defender/MidfielderPL Spurs: P28 G0 A0EFL Leeds: P44 G0 A2Premier League 2 Leeds: P15 G1 A1Under-18 Premier League Leeds: P10 G2 A0 CJ Egan-Riley (Burnley) Age: 22 Pos: DefenderPL Man City: P1 G0 A0EFL Burnley: P44 G1 A1Premier League 2 Man City: P35 G0 A1Under-18 Premier League Man City: P23 G0 A1 Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton) Age: 20 Pos: Defender/MidfielderPL Brighton: P39 G8 A2Premier League 2 Brighton: P27 G5 A4Under-18 Premier League Brighton: P30 G6 A7 Samuel Iling-Junior (Aston Villa) Age: 21 Pos: Defender/MidfielderFootball League Middlesbrough: P16 G1 A2Under-18 Premier League Chelsea: P9 G0 A1 Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth) Age: 21 Pos: Midfielder PL Bournemouth: P43 G1 A1EFL Bristol City: P83 G5 A6 Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) Age: 18 Pos: ForwardPL Arsenal: P28 G4 A2Premier League 2 Arsenal: P24 G11 A4Under-18 Premier League Arsenal: P16 G7 A5 Teddy Sharman-Lowe (Chelsea) Age: 22 Pos: GoalkeeperEFL Doncaster Rovers: P46 G0 A0Premier League 2 Chelsea: P20 G0 A0 Tyler Morton (Liverpool) Age: 22 Pos: MidfielderPL Liverpool: P2 G0 A0EFL Blackburn: P40 G0 A2; Hull City: P39 G3 A5Premier League 2 Liverpool: P39 G9 A8; Blackburn: P1 G0 A0Under-18 Premier League Liverpool: P16 G4 A6