West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen came off the bench, winning his ninth cap for the Three Lions and making his first appearance at a major international tournament, helping England claim a 1-0 victory over Serbia and get their Euro 2024 campaign off to a winning start.

Bowen, who won Hammer of the Year for the 2023/24 season after a phenomenal campaign for West Ham, which saw him score 20 goals in all competitions and equal Di Canio’s record of 16 in the Premier League, as well as providing 10 assists in all competitions, came on for England as a late second half substitute for Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka.

England went 1-0 up thanks to a 13th minute header from Jude Bellingham. After a strong opening 45 minutes, the second half proved to be less comfortable for Gareth Southgate’s men as Serbia grew into the game putting England under pressure at various stages.

Hammers forward Bowen was brought on with around 15 minutes to go and tasked with trying to help increase England’s threat going forward. He almost made an instant impact about a minute or so after being subbed on. His cross, after a quick and direct run down the right hand side found Harry Kane who’s header clattered against the crossbar after an excellent stop from the Serbian keeper.

In his first appearance at a major tournament, Bowen made six passes with an 86% passing accuracy, covered 2.21km of distance and held possession 12 times. A win for England see’s them go top of Group C after their opening game after Slovenia Vs Denmark ended in a 1-1 draw.

Speaking to the press, as reported by the clubs Official Website, Bowen couldn’t contain his pride at making his Euro’s debut for England, however rightly is fully focused on the next hurdle to overcome.

“Getting selected for the squad was one thing, and then I told myself that I wanted to set foot on the pitch,” Bowen said.

“I’ve managed to do that, and on an occasion where we were defending a lead. To be part of that, in such significant circumstances, was really special for me personally, but getting the result was also really important for the team.

“It was the first group game, which is always huge, and we’ve got the three points that we can take into Thursday now. Hopefully we can get another positive result in that game.”

West Ham’s number 20 and his teammates are back in action on Thursday the 20th of June as they take on Denmark in Frankfurt.