Alfie Devine stars as England attain U20 Globe Cup knockout stage

Tottenham’s Alfie Devine starred as England reached the knockout stage of the Below-20 Globe Cup just after a three-two win more than Uruguay.

Devine — whom The Athletic is tracking as element of the series My Football Journey: The Road to 2026 — set up Chelsea loanee Bashir Humphreys’ 22nd-minute opener in La Plata, Argentina, just before lashing a second himself in 1st-half stoppage time.

Franco Gonzalez halved the deficit for Uruguay in the 49th minute but Leeds United’s Darko Gyabi restored England’s benefit in added time.

Although Matias Abaldo struck once more for Uruguay just just before the complete-time whistle, that proved also tiny, also late.

“It is enormous for us to win,” Devine mentioned just after the game. “We knew the crowd wouldn’t be on our side and I assume everybody dug definitely deep and I assume we made use of it as an benefit to motivate us even far more. Absolutely everyone did superbly.

“(The crowd) motivated us far more. Playing in front of a crowd like this, you know you are going to get it. I assume we dealt with it definitely nicely.”

Ian Foster’s side, who final played at the tournament when they won it in 2017, best Group E and have reached the final 16 with a game to spare.

England will play Iraq in their final group game on Sunday.

The side that finishes best in Group E is set to face the second-location side in Group D — at present Brazil — on May perhaps 31.

Devine: ‘World Cup 2026? It is the ‘why not?’ factor’

Devine was an academy player at Liverpool who was released when he was 11, just before joining Wigan Athletic.

Following impressing for the below-23s, he was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £300,000 in July 2020 when Wigan went into administration.

Capped for England’s below-16s and below-19s, Jose Mourinho gave Devine his senior debut for Spurs in the third round of the FA Cup against Marine in January 2021. He scored inside minutes.

“Every time I watch back the Marine purpose, it nevertheless feels a bit weird,” he told The Athletic. “For the week just after, I couldn’t think it. I didn’t assume I’d come on at half-time. I was extremely nervous, I’ll admit that.

“I was in year seven when I was released by Liverpool. The hardest element was worrying about what my mates had been going to say. Feeling embarrassed about it when you shouldn’t. I didn’t want to go to college since persons would ask, ‘Why are not you at Liverpool any longer?’. You do not want to say you got released. But it is not definitely a terrible factor, lots of best specialists have been released from clubs at an early age.”

“Everyone’s dream is to develop into a Premier League player and that is what I’m seeking forward to now. As soon as I’ve accomplished that, that is when you can appear at other stuff.

“I undoubtedly assume about England. My 1st game was with the below-16s against Scotland… pulling on that shirt, the feeling you get is astounding.”

And Globe Cup 2026? “It’s the ‘why not?’ aspect. You take each and every day as it comes, stuff like that you appear forward to, but the bits in in between, if you do not get these ideal, you will by no means obtain it.”

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My Football Journey: The Road to 2026

My Football Journey: The Road to 2026 is a series following some of the most thrilling young footballers in the planet throughout a crucial moment in their careers.

It will comply with the highs, the setbacks, and the difficult perform they and their clubs are placing in, and show how distinct their journeys are as they dream of producing it to the 2026 Globe Cup.

Study far more under about the extremely-rated youngsters — identified for us with the assist of the scouts who perform for Football Manager — as they perform towards the Holy Grail of a location at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

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Introducing My Football Journey – tracking seven young stars on the path to the 2026 Globe Cup

(Photo: Getty Pictures)