Trafford: England debut a dream come true

James Trafford made his first senior England appearance in the 1-1 draw against Uruguay on Friday night at Wembley Stadium and received his legacy cap from Three Lions head coach Thomas Tuchel in the changing room straight after.

After his senior England debut, the 23 year old said: “It’s a dream come true, really. It was brilliant, a great feeling. I really enjoyed myself, and it was an extremely proud moment and proud day for me and my family and friends.

“It was brilliant getting a cap [from Tuchel after the match]. I had a lot of them from every age group until this one, and yeah, it was a brilliant moment.”

Trafford was quick to heap praise on former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund coach Tuchel, and England goalkeeping unit, led by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who has established himself as the Three Lions’ No 1 since the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

“The manager’s brilliant," he said. “He’s obviously been really successful throughout his career, and you can see why he’s been so successful. He’s doing great things with us that we’re always looking to build on.

“And Pickers, like the other goalkeepers I’ve been with – Aaron Ramsdale, Dean Henderson and now Jason Steele —they’re brilliant. They’re great lads and obviously really talented, and they’ve all got attributes and things that I always try and learn from and take into my game to improve.”

It now means he’s earned a cap at every England international team from under-16s up to the seniors, and that national team journey stretches back as far as the under-12 set-up.

“I've had a long journey. I remember one of my first goalkeeper camps when I was about 12. And then the year after. And then at under-15s, when they first have the camps, I was in the first set of camps, and after that I didn’t go. I was always wishing I did go and I really wanted to go, but never went.

“And then my first call-up to a team was the under-16 season. I got called up, we played Denmark, Spain and Scotland, and I played all three. That was brilliant. I remember it was really cold at St George’s Park, but yeah, the family were there and it was amazing.

“And then from there, apart from one when I was injured, I’ve been in every camp, every national break there’s been apart from one when I was injured. It’s been so many memories from it with the lads.”

He featured alongside two of the players he grew up with in his senior debut against Uruguay – James Garner and Cole Palmer. The latter was also an Academy teammate at Manchester City, before he made a permanent move to Burnley that resulted in a Championship title and his return to Man City four years later.

Trafford said: “It’s really good to see how far we’ve all come from that time and that squad. Three years ago, I don’t know how many of us would have expected to all be in camps together.

“There’s a lot who have been in the squads at some point – Levi Colwill, Jarrad Quansah, Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White. There’s been a lot, and there’ll be even more to come. We knew we had a really good group at the time, and everyone can see that now.

“One of the good things is growing up with lads and then not seeing them for a while, whether you haven’t been called up or when people move clubs, and then coming back together. That’s one great thing, and obviously the memories on the pitch are just as good.”

Trafford will be hoping to add the 2026 FIFA World Cup to his catalogue of major tournaments for England at different age groups.

That included a memorable run in the 2023 UEFA Under-21 European Championships, when he inspired England to win the whole tournament. He didn’t concede a goal and saved a stoppage-time penalty and its rebound in the final against Spain as England won 1-0 and lifted the trophy.

Trafford said: “It was a surreal time. I’d only just had a long season at Bolton, then I think I had a week off and went straight to the Euros. I was one of the younger players in the squad, we were in the middle of nowhere in Georgia, and I had my Burnley move going on at the same time.

"My PlayStation didn’t work over there, so it was just a surreal time. It all went really, really quickly. We made memories that we’ll have for a long time, and a lot of players from that squad have gone on to be in the senior squad. We all had a great time - it was an amazing experience.

“I didn’t really think about being unbeatable or anything like that. I just genuinely loved it. When you’re young, you don’t really think. You just take it game by game and have fun. It was like I rolled a six every time that tournament. Every time I rolled the dice, I got a six. It was just fun times for me.”

The Three Lions next face Japan in the second match of this final international camp before Tuchel selects his 26-man squad for the World Cup in late May.