Jarrod Bowen became the 44th West Ham United player to represent England on Saturday evening.
The Hammers’ No20 was recognised for a remarkable season at Club level – in which he was involved in 31 goals in 51 appearances – with the chance to make his international debut, alongside West Ham teammate Declan Rice, against Hungary at Puskás Aréna.
The east London duo both played the full 90 minutes of the eventual 1-0 defeat in Nations League Group A3, with Bowen impressing many onlookers at the end of his first full week as an England player.
The 25-year-old’s maiden call-up had already marked an incredible rise from non-league to the brink of international football, but in featuring for his home country on Saturday, Bowen became the first Hammer to debut for England since Rice himself achieved the feat in March 2019.
The occasion also marked the first time England had named at least two West Ham players in their starting XI since a March 2010 match against Egypt, in which Robert Green and Matthew Upson featured.
Wearing the No10 shirt, Bowen got off to a bright start in an otherwise quiet first half, latching onto Harry Kane’s flick before seeing a shot blocked by Hungary’s Attila Szalai.
The winger started on the right of a front three and demonstrated his signature irrepressible energy, always keen to run in behind.
Later on, Bowen produced a hooked volley which was saved by goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, before producing a threatening low ball across the face of goal at the end of a tricky run, and later firing a snap-shot over from range.
Rice, meanwhile, was typically tenacious in a tightly-packed midfield, producing a team-high five tackles, as well as three interceptions and enjoying a passing accuracy of 90.7 per cent.
Ultimately, however, a controversial decision to award Hungary a penalty following an alleged foul by Reece James led to Dominik Szoboszlai slamming home from 12 yards – yielding a first defeat for England within 90 minutes in some 23 matches and 19 months.
Nevertheless, Bowen, Rice and England will have plenty of opportunity to rediscover their form, with three more Nations League group matches to come in the next ten days: away to Germany on Tuesday (7 June), then at home to Italy (Saturday 11 June) and Hungary (Tuesday 14 June).
