Yahoo Sports Phil Foden’s international journey so far
Having already won it all at club level, Phil Foden is now just one game away from his maiden senior international success.
Despite being just 24, Foden has 17 major honours in a City shirt.
With England through to a second successive European Championship final, he will be looking to claim yet another medal.
Gareth Southgate’s team face Spain at the Olympiastadion in Berlin at 20:00 (UK) on Sunday 14 July.
That means Foden, along with Kyle Walker and John Stones, will come up against City team-mate Rodrigo, who has been just an imperious at the heart of Spain’s midfield as he is for City.
While it would represent Foden’s first senior international honour, it was the U17 World Cup back in 2017 that really saw the Stockport-born youngster burst into the public’s consciousness.
City’s academy staff were well aware of the incredible talent on our hands at that point, but it wasn’t yet widely known just how good Foden was.
There was little doubt after that tournament, when he scored twice in an historic final and received the Golden Ball award for the best player across the whole competition.
WATCH: Watch: Foden’s 50 Premier League goals for City
Promoted to the U21s while still 18, our No.47 played 15 times for the eldest youth side before earning his senior call up in August 2020.
Already part of several of Pep Guardiola’s successes at City, Foden’s England debut came against Iceland in September 2020.
He returned to the squad for the November international break and made a substitute appearance in the 3-0 win over Republic of Ireland.
However, it was the 4-0 win over Iceland on 18 November 2020 that saw him truly make his mark at the senior level.
After setting up Declan Rice for the game’s opener, he added goals in the 80th and 84th minutes to add the gloss to a fine win.
Three appearances in World Cup qualifiers during the spring break in 2021 followed before he was named in a major tournament squad for the very first time.
He started the first two games at Euro 2020 (held in 2021) out on the right wing, but Southgate changed tact from that point on and our man was reduced to 25 minutes in the tight semi-final with Denmark.
After recovering from a foot injury, a key role – and three assists in four matches – followed as part of the qualifiers that autumn.
Those performances came through the middle, having previously spent the majority of his appearances out on the wing.
WATCH: 2023/24 season highlights: Phil Foden
In the build-up to the 2022 World Cup, Foden was in excellent form for City and looked to be cementing a place in the England side.
He started Nations League encounters with big hitters Italy and Germany in September, just two months before the World Cup got under way in Qatar.
After 19 minutes in the opener with Iran and remaining on the bench against the USA, Foden started against Wales and took his opportunity.
Linking up beautifully with an attacking unit that included Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford, he was a threat throughout the evening as England dominated proceedings.
He was rewarded with his first World Cup goal, arriving late in the box to slide home Kane’s low cross. A momentous moment in anyone’s career.
Foden retained his place for the Round of 16 encounter with Senegal, teeing up Kane and Bukayo Saka for the second and third goals of a convincing win.
With that performance as the blueprint, Foden also started the quarter-final with defending champions France.
WATCH: Watch: Foden reacts to his best Premier League goals
An entertaining clash that could have gone either way eventually fell in favour of Didier Deschamps’ men and Foden’s first World Cup journey was over.
Instead, he came back to City and helped us to an historic Treble as well as UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup success in 2023.
At international level in 2023, he made nine appearances and scored once, in the 3-1 friendly defeat of Scotland.
90 minutes followed in early 2024 in the friendly meetings with Brazil, Belgium and Iceland in order to prepare England for this current tournament, where Foden has been at the heart of Southgate’s plans.
So far he has started all six of England’s games, and much like the team around him, has grown into the competition.
An enthusiastic showing against Slovenia made him England’s best performer that day, but it was the semi-final with Netherlands in which he most stood out.
Playing more centrally after starting the tournament out on the left, Foden was able to take the ball on the half turn and find increasingly minute pockets of space.
With luck on his side, he could easily have scored twice.
The first came as he received a delicate pass from Kobbie Mainoo and danced through the box and squeezed a shot under Bart Verbruggen, only to see Denzel Dumfries get back on the line and clear.
His second was a strike we became used to at City in 2023/24, turning in the inside right channel and curling the ball to the opposite top corner. Only this time it kissed the woodwork and went behind.
With 40 caps to his name, Foden is already enjoying an international career he can be proud of.
To win a major tournament with his country will move him into a different category altogether.
