Phil Foden

Philip Walter Foden (born 28 May 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the England national team.

Philip Walter Foden was born on 28 May 2000 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and was a boyhood supporter of Manchester City.

Foden also became the first player born in the year 2000 to start a match in the competition.

At the start of the following month, he made his first league start for the club in a 2–0 win over Cardiff City, becoming the youngest English player to do so since Daniel Sturridge in 2008.

After the match, City manager Pep Guardiola told media that he expected Foden to be an important Manchester City player "for the next decade".

He joined the club at the age of four and signed his Academy scholarship in July 2016.

He was privately educated at St Bede's College, with his tuition fees being paid for by Manchester City.

On 6 December 2016, City manager Pep Guardiola included Foden in the matchday squad for the UEFA Champions League group stage match with Celtic; he was an unused substitute in the 1–1 home draw.

He made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 4–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur on 16 December, appearing in the 83rd minute for İlkay Gündoğan.

Foden's breakthrough into professional football came in 2017 when he won the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball award following England's successful Under-17 World Cup campaign.

He made his debut for City during the same year and in December was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

Foden has since made over 200 appearances for the club, winning fourteen honours, including a continental treble in the 2022–23 season and becoming the youngest recipient of a Premier League winner's medal in 2018.

After making several appearances on the bench at the start of the 2017–18 season, Foden made his Manchester City debut on 21 November 2017 in a Champions League game against Feyenoord, coming on in the 75th minute for Yaya Touré.

He became the fourth-youngest English player to make an appearance in the Champions League (17 years 177 days).

On 6 December, Foden broke the record previously held by Josh McEachran to become the youngest English player, at the age of 17 years and 192 days, to start a Champions League match, doing so in a 2–1 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Foden featured as a late substitute for Sergio Agüero in the 2018 EFL Cup final on 25 February 2018, helping City secure a 3–0 victory against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.

The following month, he broke Kieran Richardson's record to become the youngest English player to start in a knockout-match in the Champions League, doing so at the age of 17 years and 283 days in a 4–0 win over Basel.

On 13 May, he became the youngest player to receive a Premier League winner's medal.

Foden was part of City's starting line-up for the 2018 FA Community Shield on 5 August 2018, playing a total of 75 minutes as well as assisting Agüero's first goal of the game in a 2–0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium, marking Foden's third winner's medal of the calendar year.

On 25 September 2018, he provided an assist to Riyad Mahrez and later scored his first senior goal in injury time to secure City a 3–0 away win against Oxford United in the third round of the EFL Cup.

In 2019, he won a second Premier League and became the club's youngest-ever goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League, and is the youngest English player to both start a match and score in the knockout stages of the competition.

In 2021 and 2022, he was named as the Premier League Young Player of the Season and the PFA Young Player of the Year.

Foden scored his first home goal for City on 6 January 2019 during their 7–0 victory against Rotherham United in the third round of the 2018–19 FA Cup.

Three days later, Foden was again on the scoresheet as he helped City defeat Burton Albion 9–0 in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals.

On 12 March 2019, Foden scored his first Champions League goal during the second leg of the last-16 tie against Schalke, as City won 7–0 (10–2 on aggregate).

In doing so, he helped the club equal the record for the largest winning margin in the knockout phase of the competition.

His goal also saw him become Man City's youngest-ever goalscorer in the Champions League and the youngest English goalscorer to score in the knock-out stages of the competition, aged 18 years and 288 days.

Foden scored his first Premier League goal on 20 April 2019, in a 1–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Upon doing so, he became the third-youngest player to score for the club in the Premier League, after Micah Richards and Sturridge.

Man City ended the season completing a domestic sweep of all trophies with Foden having an increasingly prominent role in the squad.

Foden began the 2019–20 season by winning his seventh honour, winning the 2019 Community Shield against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on 4 August 2019.

He scored in the penalty shoot-out which decided the victors.

Six days later, he made his first appearance of the 2019–20 Premier League as Manchester City beat West Ham United 5–0 at the London Stadium.

On 1 October 2019, Foden scored his first goal of the season in the 2019–20 Champions League, in a 2–0 home victory against Dinamo Zagreb on matchday two of the group stage.

Foden created the second most big chances (6) in the Champions League group stage, only behind Lionel Messi (7).

Foden made his first Premier League start of the season on 15 December 2019, picking up an assist for Kevin De Bruyne against Arsenal in a 3–0 away victory.

Foden represented England at multiple youth levels before making his debut for the senior team in September 2020.

He was part of the England teams for UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

On 20 October 2020, Jude Bellingham, aged 17 years and 113 days, broke Phil Foden's record to become the youngest Englishman to start a Champions League match.

Guinness World Records recognised him for this feat in the 2020 edition of their book.