Tottenham’s Alfie Devine starred as England reached the knockout stage of the Beneath-20 Globe Cup soon 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, prior to 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.
Even though Matias Abaldo struck once more for Uruguay just prior to the complete-time whistle, that proved as well tiny, as well late.
“It is enormous for us to win,” Devine mentioned soon after the game. “We knew the crowd wouldn’t be on our side and I believe everybody dug actually deep and I believe we made use of it as an benefit to motivate us even extra. Absolutely everyone did superbly.
“(The crowd) motivated us extra. Playing in front of a crowd like this, you know you are going to get it. I believe we dealt with it actually effectively.”
Ian Foster’s side, who final played at the tournament when they won it in 2017, prime 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 prime in Group E is set to face the second-spot side in Group D — at the moment Brazil — on May well 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, prior to joining Wigan Athletic.
Right after 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 objective, it nevertheless feels a bit weird,” he told The Athletic. “For the week soon after, I couldn’t think it. I didn’t believe 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 have been going to say. Feeling embarrassed about it when you shouldn’t. I didn’t want to go to college mainly because persons would ask, ‘Why are not you at Liverpool any longer?’. You do not want to say you got released. But it is not actually a negative point, lots of prime pros have been released from clubs at an early age.”
“Everyone’s dream is to turn 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 believe about England. My 1st game was with the below-16s against Scotland… pulling on that shirt, the feeling you get is wonderful.”
And Globe Cup 2026? “It’s the ‘why not?’ aspect. You take every single day as it comes, stuff like that you appear forward to, but the bits in among, if you do not get these appropriate, you will by no means accomplish it.”
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Alfie Devine, My Football Journey: ‘There’s no one particular greater to appear up to than Harry Kane’
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 for the duration of a crucial moment in their careers.
It will stick to the highs, the setbacks, and the difficult function they and their clubs are placing in, and show how various their journeys are as they dream of creating it to the 2026 Globe Cup.
Study extra under about the very-rated youngsters — identified for us with the aid of the scouts who function for Football Manager — as they function towards the Holy Grail of a spot 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 Photos)