Ethan Nwaneri scored and earned England’s Player of the Match award in an u21 win over Kazakhstan on Monday night.
Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images
The England u21s only had one game scheduled for the September international break, so Arsenal midfielder Ethan Nwaneri had one chance to impress on the pitch for Lee Carsley’s side.
It was a chance the 18-year-old took, scoring England’s opening goal away to Kazakhstan on Monday.
Just over 17 minutes into the match, Nwaneri pounced on a layoff by Divin Mubama to fire a first-time shot from the edge of the penalty area into the right-hand bottom corner.
Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images
England doubled their lead through Jobe Bellingham in the 23rd minute, and the game ultimately finished 2-0. Nwaneri was named England’s Player of the Match shortly afterwards.
A bright spark throughout ⚡️
Ethan Nwaneri is your #YoungLions Player of the Match connected by @EE! 👊 pic.twitter.com/9dqzwQyUpR
— England (@England) September 8, 2025
The result leaves England nominally third in their u21 European Championship qualification group after one game played.
Though with head-to-head results the tiebreaker and England level on points with four other teams, the exact positioning is pretty unclear (and largely irrelevant) at the moment.
UEFA’s website even has the team listed in first, based on how they’ve decided to order the standings, in the absence of actual head-to-head matches to split them properly.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Nwaneri’s goal on Monday was his second for the England u21s, having made just four starts for the team so far. Though the teenager was involved at the u21 European Championships this summer, he largely featured in brief substitute cameos.
The youngster will now return to Arsenal ahead of Saturday’s game against Nottingham Forest.
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