England will compete at the men's FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia next year, with their qualification confirmed on Tuesday evening following UEFA's cancellation of the U19 EURO Finals.
The Young Lions would usually qualify for the World Cup by virtue of their performance in the UEFA U19 EURO Championship the preceding season.
And Lee Carsley's team were set to feature at the Elite Qualifying Round stage in Denmark next month, which was delayed from March due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
But UEFA have now cancelled all remaining games and the U19 EURO Finals in Northern Ireland, which were scheduled to take place in March 2021.
That means the five allocated European spots for the FIFA U20 World Cup have been granted to England, France, Italy, Netherlands and Portugal, due to the UEFA qualifying round coefficient rankings for the 2019-20 season.
The FIFA U20 World Cup will be held in Indonesia next summer between 20 May and 12 June 2012 and it's a competition England have fond recent memories of, after winning the 2017 edition in South Korea.
Paul Simpson's squad were the first of four England development squads to win silverware that summer, after beating Venezuela in the World Cup Final thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin's winner and Freddie Woodman's dramatic late penalty save.
However, England didn't get a chance to defend their title after missing out on a spot at the 2019 edition, following a play-off defeat against Norway at the 2018 U19 EURO Finals.
With the qualifiers in November now cancelled, Carsley and his squad will be able to start their preparations in November with a training camp during the international week.
