What happened to England's 'golden generation' that won the U20 World Cup in 2017

On this day in 2017, England won the FIFA U20 World Cup at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in South Korea.

England finished top of their group after winning against Argentina, drawing with Guinea and beating South Korea.

The young Three Lions then navigated past Costa Rica, Mexico and Italy in the knockout stages before meeting Venezuela in the final.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal in the 35th minute proved to be the winner as England won the final 1-0.

Seven years down the line, what has happened to the players who started for England in the final against Venezuela?

Freddie Woodman - Goalkeeper

Since coming through the ranks at Crystal Palace and Newcastle United, Woodman has been loaned out to the likes of Crawley Town, Aberdeen, Swansea City and Bournemouth before completing a permanent move to Preston North End in 2022.

Jonjoe Kenny - Defender

The Liverpool-born defender went on to make 50 Premier League appearances in total for Everton but struggled to nail down a regular starting spot. After a series of loan moves, Kenny moved to Hertha BSC as a free agent in 2022.

Fikayo Tomori - Defender

Perhaps the most successful player to come out of the 2017 England U20 squad, Tomori left Chelsea for AC Milan in 2021 and lifted the Serie A title in the 21/22 season.

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Jake Clarke-Salter - Defender

Clarke-Salter was on Chelsea’s books from 2016 to 2022 but only managed one league appearance for the Blues. The 26-year-old is now a regular starter at Championship side Queens Park Rangers.

Kyle Walker-Peters - Defender

Playing for Tottenham Hotspur at the time, Walker-Peters was one of the most highly-rated defenders in England and was part of the squad that lost to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final. After moving to Southampton in 2020, he has made over 130 league appearances for the Saints.

Lewis Cook - Midfielder

Cook, who was the captain of the side has been at Bournemouth for the majority of his career, making over 200 appearances for the Cherries. The midfielder also won the Toulon Tournament in 2018 with England’s U21 side.

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Josh Onomah - Midfielder

Another player that perhaps failed to live up to the expectations. Onomah left Spurs in 2019 for Fulham and after four years, moved on to Preston in 2023.

Kieran Dowell - Right Midfield

Dowell left Everton in 2020 for Norwich City and went on to win the Championship in the 20/21 season. The 26-year-old is now at Scottish giants Rangers, with whom he won the League Cup last season.

Dominic Solanke - Attacking Midfielder

Solanke left Chelsea for Liverpool in 2017, under Jurgen Klopp, the striker scored one Premier League goal in 27 appearances. He has since scored 77 goals in 216 matches for Bournemouth.

Ademola Lookman - Left Midfield

Lookman had spells at Everton, RB Leipzig, Fulham and Leicester City before becoming the hero for Atalanta in the 23/24 Europa League final.

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Dominic Calvert-Lewin - Striker

Matchwinner Calvert-Lewin has gone on to become Everton’s main man up top but has struggled with a number of injury problems. In 248 matches for the Toffees, he has scored 68 goals.

Within that squad, Ezri Konsa and Dean Henderson are the only ones to have been selected for this summer’s Euro 2024 by Gareth Southgate.

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