Eddie Nketiah sent England to the u21 European Championships with a record-breaking goal on Tuesday night against Turkey.
Nketiah scored his 14th England u21 goal against Turkey on Tuesday, netting what turned out to be the winner in a 2-1 victory to send the team to the European Championships next summer.
It was a rollercoaster final 10 minutes for the striker, after he hit the post from the penalty spot not long earlier. But when he found space in open play, he made no mistake.
📞 Record breaker 📞
Eddie Nketiah is @England U21s record goalscorer!
1️⃣4️⃣ goals in 1️⃣2️⃣ games 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NLdJFfOcHs
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 13, 2020
As well as setting a new all-time record for England u21 goalscorers and qualifying for the Euros, Nketiah also won Player of the Match. He leaves behind Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers with 13 goals each.
Plenty of top current Premier League strikers couldn’t match Nketiah’s goal tally even from more appearances. Tammy Abraham scored nine in 26, Harry Kane got eight in 14, Dominic Calvert-Lewin managed seven in 17.
As for the two Nketiah just surpassed, Jeffers scored 13 in 16, whilst Shearer scored 13 in 12. So Nketiah’s 14 in 12 is better than both.
They can’t have any excuses about age either. All of them were older than Nketiah when they played their last game – bar Shearer, who was less than two months younger.
Age on their last England u21 appearance:
- Shearer: 21 years, 2 months, 29 days
- Nketiah: 21 years, 4 months, 14 days
- Abraham: 21 years, 8 months, 22 days
- Kane: 21 years, 10 months, 27 days
- Calvert-Lewin: 22 years, 3 months, 5 days
- Jeffers: 22 years, 7 months, 15 days
Appearance dates for Shearer and Jeffers found using EnglandFootballOnline, the rest with Transfermarkt.