Toulon Tournament draw made for England Under-21s

England Under-21s will take on Portugal, Guinea, Paraguay and Japan at the Toulon Tournament later this month.

Gareth Southgate’s squad will face four initial games at the annual competition in southern France after being drawn out in Group B.

And there is also the prospect of facing a fifth match, should the Three Lions finish in the top two of the group, with a Final and third-fourth place decider scheduled to take place.

First up for England will be the Portuguese on Thursday 19 May in Toulon, before a three-day break ahead of the second fixture with Guinea in Aubagne on Monday 23 May.

The action then comes thick and fast as Paraguay are next up on Wednesday 25 May in Six Fours before the final group game with Japan on Friday 27 May back in Toulon.

In the other group, the five participating nations are hosts France, Mali, Bulgaria, Mexico and Czech Republic, with the top two teams from both groups playing in the Final and a third place play-off game on Sunday 29 May.

Last year saw England finish in fourth spot for the second successive campaign, when an Under-20 side competed in Toulon. 

Led by head coach Aidy Boothroyd, they were beaten 3-1 by USA in the third-fourth place decider, after previous wins over Ivory Coast and China, a draw with Morocco and a narrow defeat to Mexico were enough to secure second spot in their group.

In 2014, Southgate took a squad to Toulon and also finished fourth after a narrow defeat to Portugal in the final game, after previously beating Qatar, drawing with Colombia and South Korea and losing 2-1 to Brazil in the group stages.