England have named Kobbie Mainoo in their squad for March’s international break, capping a meteoric few months for the Manchester United teenager.
Mainoo only made his first start in the Premier League at Everton in November, but a run of eye-catching performances has led to calls for the 18-year-old to be included in the England squad for Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate will run the rule over the midfielder this month, with fixtures against Brazil and Belgium providing the perfect chance for Mainoo to stake his claim for tournament involvement.
Mainoo would not be the first teenager to time a run into the England squad ahead of a major tournament and we’ve remembered five occasions the Three Lions included teens in their travelling party. Five times England took teenagers to major tournaments:
Michael Owen (World Cup – 1998)
Michael Owen’s electric emergence was impossible for England to ignore during the 1997/98 campaign, as the Liverpool teenager won the Premier League’s Golden Boot. Having only made his debut for the Reds at the back end of the previous campaign, it was a stunning start to his senior career, with Owen remaining the only teenager to have finished as the league’s leading scorer.
Glenn Hoddle included the 18-year-old in his squad for France ’98, where Owen began the tournament as a back-up option to Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham, the partnership that had fired England to the semi-finals of Euro ’96 on home so...