Paul Williams' Young Lions end Continental Cup with victory over U20 World Cup rivals

England Under-20s ended the Continental Cup in South Korea with a 4-1 victory over Iran in Suwon on Saturday.

The Young Lions, who will be back in South Korea next summer for the U20s World Cup, ran out as comfortable winners over another nation who are also qualified for the competition.

Adam Armstrong put England ahead just after the half-hour mark to give his side a half-time lead, before boss Paul Williams made eight changes at the break to share out the minutes after a busy period of three games in four days.

And two of those substitutes got themselves on the scoresheet, with Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke doubling England’s lead in the 51st minute before Iran’s Reza Jafari halved the deficit three minutes later.

Izzy Brown restored England’s two-goal advantage in the 68th minute, before Solanke grabbed his second of the game with just under 15 minutes to play.

The result was enough to guarantee England second spot in the competition, but more importantly it provides the group with an early experience of what to expect when they return to East Asia next May.

England Under-20s: 1 Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United), 3 Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), 6 Dael Fry (Middlesbrough), 4 Jake Clarke-Salter (Bristol Rovers, loan from Chelsea), 14 Callum Connolly (Everton), 24 Louis Reed (Sheffield United), 18 Ainsley Maitland-Niles (c) (Arsenal), 19 Kieran Dowell (Everton), 7 Patrick Roberts (Celtic, loan from Manchester City), 21 Harrison Chapman (Middlesbrough), 9 Adam Armstrong (Barnsley, loan from Newcastle United).

Substitutes: 11 Dominic Solanke (Chelsea) for Armstrong 46, 17 Isaiah Brown (Rotherham United, loan from Chelsea) for Roberts 46, 16 Tafari Moore (FC Utrecht, loan from Arsenal) for Kenny 46, 8 Josh Onomah (Tottenham Hotspur) for Maitland-Niles 46, 2 Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur) for Connolly 46, 12 Ademola Lookman (Charlton Athletic) for Chapman 46, 5 Taylor Moore (Bristol City) for Clarke-Salter 46, 15 Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea) for Fry 46, 20 Ovie Ejaria (Liverpool) for Dowell 71

Substitutes not used: 13 Dean Henderson (Grimsby Town, loan from Manchester United), 22 Luke Southwood (Reading), 10 Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), 23 Axel Tuanzebe (Manchester United)

Head coach: Paul Williams

Goals: Adam Armstrong 32, Dominic Solanke 51, 76, Isaiah Brown 68