England U20s to compete in Toulon Festival in France in May

Wednesday 15 Apr 2015
The England U20s will be competing in Toulon this summer
England Under-20s will finish their season with a trip to the Toulon Festival in France this summer.

Aidy Boothroyd’s side have been placed in Group B of the 43rd annual competition in the south of France, alongside China, Ivory Coast, Mexico and Morocco, so will have a minimum of four more games in May and June.

The Toulon Festival

27 May - 7 June 2015
Toulon, France
Players born on or after 1 January 1993 are eligible

And with Costa Rica, France, Netherlands, Qatar and USA making up Group A, there is the potential of a fifth match with a third-place play-off and final taking place to complete the tournament.

The Young Lions have remained unbeaten in their eight games this season, most recently beating USA in Plymouth and Mexico at the Hive last month.

Boothroyd will also be able to select players born from 1 January 1993 for the trip too, as the competition’s age limit has been opened up further from its traditional U20 format in order to accommodate national squads in their preparation for the 2016 Olympic games.

Last year Gareth Southgate took his squad to Toulon, when they finished in fourth place after a narrow defeat to Portugal in the play-off.

James Ward-Prowse collects

England's James Ward-Prowse won the 'Third Best Player' and 'Goal of the Tournament' awards in the 2014 Toulon Festival

During the group stage, they beat Qatar, drew 1-1 with Colombia and South Korea and lost 2-1 to Brazil, who eventually won the title by beating France in the final.

England will kick-off this season’s tournament against Morocco on Thursday 28 May at the Stade Leo-Lagrange in Toulon, where they will also face Ivory Coast two days later.

It’s then on to the Stade de Lattre in Aubagne to play Mexico on Wednesday 3 June before the final group game with China on Friday 5 June takes place back in Toulon at the Leo-Lagrange.

Should the Young Lions progress beyond the group stage, the final will be held on 7 June at Stade Mayol in Toulon.

For full details on the Toulon Festival 2015, click here.

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels