England got their FIFA U20 World Cup campaign off to the perfect start with a clinical victory over ten-man Argentina in South Korea.
The Young Lions faced a team who enjoyed plenty of possession throughout, but brilliantly converted the two real chances they created, before adding a late penalty, while their opponents were profligate.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s diving header from Kieran Dowell’s precise cross ten minutes before the break gave Paul Simpson’s men the lead and Adam Armstrong’s composed finish after Dowell’s flick-on doubled that advantage shortly after the interval.
And when Lautaro Martinez saw red for elbowing Fikayo Tomori, an injury-time penalty from Dominic Solanke put the gloss on the victory.
The win – England's first at an U20 World Cup since 1997 – puts Simpson's side in a good position to qualify from Group A as they now prepare for a game against Guinea on Tuesday and a clash with hosts South Korea next Friday.
Argentina made the stronger start, controlling possession and territory but failed to turn that into goals.
Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman had to be alert to repel Ezequiel Ponce’s shot after a neat swivel on the edge of the area and the impressive Santiago Colombatto went even closer on 33 minutes as he got in front of Dowell from a corner and glanced a header off the top of the crossbar.
But Dowell more than made amends with a moment of pure quality to help give his side the lead against the run of play.
The Everton midfielder held off pressure on the right flank, whipped in a pinpoint, in-swinging cross with his left foot and his Goodison Park team-mate Calvert-Lewin guided the ball beyond Franco Petroli with a brilliant diving header.
And England made it 2-0 on 52 minutes as Dowell flicked the ball through to Armstrong, who was playing on shoulder of the last defender, and the Newcastle hotshot fired past Petroli at his near post.
Argentina huffed and puffed to try and get back into the contest and Woodman stopped a catastrophe on 75 minutes as he dived to his right to turn an inadvertent deflection from Lewis Cook that was destined for the bottom corner around the post.
Video assistant referees are being trialled at underage level for the first time at this World Cup and Martinez fell foul of the technology when the video assistant spotted an elbow to the face of Tomori and alerted referee Abdulla Hassan, who then sent him off.
England then completed the scoring with a late third as Petroli clumsily brought Calvert-Lewin down in the box and Solanke put the penalty in the bottom right-hand corner, despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to it.
England: 1 Freddie Woodman (Newcastle), 2 Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), 3 Callum Connolly (Everton), 4 Lewis Cook (Bournemouth), 5 Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), 6 Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), 7 Josh Onomah (Tottenham Hotspur), 9 Adam Armstrong (Newcastle), 10 Dominic Solanke (Chelsea), 16 Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), 18 Kieran Dowell (Everton)
Substitutes: 8 Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal) for Armstrong 66, 19 Sheyi Ojo (Liverpool) for Dowell 73, 20 Ovie Ejaria (Liverpool) for Onomah 84
Substitutes not used: 13 Dean Henderson (Manchester United), 21 Luke Southwood (Reading), 11 Ademola Lookman (Everton), 12 Ezri Konsa (Charlton Athletic), 14 Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur), 15 Dael Fry (Middlesbrough), 17 Harry Chapman (Middlesbrough),
Goals: Calvert-Lewin 38, Armstrong 52, Solanke 90+4
Head Coach: Paul Simpson
Argentina: 1 Franco Petroli, 2 Juan Foyth, 3 Milton Valenzuela, 4 Gonzalo Montiel, 5 Santiago Ascacibar, 6 Marcos Senesi, 7 Marcelo Torres, 8 Exequiel Palacios, 15 Santiago Colombatto, 16 Lucas Rodriguez, 18 Ezequiel Ponce
Substitutes: 9 Lautaro Martinez for Torres 60, 10 Tomas Conechny for Palacios 60, 11 Brian Mansilla for Colombatto 74
Substitutes not used: 12 Manuel Roffo, 21 Marcelo Mino, 13 Leonel Mosevich, 14 Lisandro Martinez, 17 Tomas Belmonte, 19 Matias Zaracho, 20 Ignacio Mendez
Coach: Claudio Ubeda
Referee: Abdulla Hassan
