Philip Walter Foden (born 28 May 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the England national team.
A product of Manchester City's youth academy, 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 Manchester City during the same year and in December was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
Foden has since made over 300 appearances for the club, winning 19 honours, including a continental treble in the 2022–23 season and becoming the youngest recipient of a Premier League winner's medal in 2018. 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. In 2024, Foden was named as the Premier League Player of the Season and the PFA Players' Player of the Year.
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, the 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024.
Contents
Club career
Manchester City
Philip Walter Foden, the son of Claire Foden, was born on 28 May 2000 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and was a boyhood supporter of Manchester City. He joined the club at the age of eight 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.
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. 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. Foden also became the first player born in the year 2000 to start a match in the competition. 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 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. Guinness World Records recognised him for this feat in the 2020 edition of their book.
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 stoppage time to secure City a 3–0 away win against Oxford United in the third round of the EFL Cup.
International career
Youth
In May 2017, Foden scored in the final of the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship as the England under-17s suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Spain.
In October of the same year, Foden gained widespread press attention after scoring twice in the final of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, also against Spain, as England won the competition. He was named as the best player of the tournament. He won the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball award in 2017 where he also gained some widespread press attention and significant media coverage.
On 27 May 2019, Foden was included in England's 23-man squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and scored an impressive goal — his first for the U21s — in the opening 2–1 defeat to France in Cesena.
Senior
On 25 August 2020, Gareth Southgate named Foden in the England senior team for the first time. He made his international debut against Iceland on 5 September 2020, in a 1–0 away victory in the UEFA Nations League tournament. On 7 September, Foden, alongside England teammate Mason Greenwood, was withdrawn from the England squad due to breaking the team's COVID-19 isolation protocols by bringing at least one guest to their team hotel in Iceland. Manchester City condemned Foden's actions.
Foden scored his first and second goals for England during a UEFA Nations League match against Iceland at Wembley Stadium on 18 November 2020.
On 1 June 2021, Foden was named in the 26-man squad for the newly rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020. He joined up with the squad at a later date due to his participation in that year's Champions League final. On 8 June, Foden revealed that he had dyed his hair blonde – drawing comparisons to former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne who also had a similar haircut for Euro 1996. Foden said in a press conference on the same day that: "The full nation know what he means to the country and what he did, so it won't be too bad if I try to bring a bit of Gazza on to the pitch."
On 10 November 2022, Foden was included in the 26-man squad for England's 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign in Qatar. He made his first appearance in the competition as a 71st-minute sub in a 6–2 win against Iran. On 29 November, he scored England's second goal in the 51st minute in a 3–0 win against Wales. It was also his first goal in a major international tournament for his country. In the following game against Senegal, Foden assisted Harry Kane's goal in the third minute of added time in the first half. He then followed this up in assisting Bukayo Saka in his second-half goal in the 57th minute.
Foden was named in England's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024. He started on the left of the attack in the team's opening match against Serbia, playing the full 90 minutes as England won 1–0 to go top of Group C.
Style of play
Foden is left-footed, and can play as a wing-back, or a winger on the right, though Pep Guardiola has described him as "more of a midfielder". He has occasionally been used in a central attacking role as a false 9. In 2017, Guardiola described him as "a special player", saying: "It's dangerous to say good things about young players because they are still young, and they have to grow and they have to learn many, many things... But we have a lot of confidence to help him, because we believe he is a guy who has potential, even if he's not strong, he's not tall." In 2017, Louise Taylor of The Guardian described Foden as "boasting tight, adhesive control and blessed with the knack of drifting past opponents". In 2018, veteran football writer Brian Glanville described him as a "gifted and precocious teenager", adding: "Young players of his skill and inventive quality are pitifully thin on the ground."
Personal life
Foden has three children with his long-term girlfriend Rebecca Cooke; a son born in 2019, a daughter born in 2021 and another child born during Euro 2024. He wears the 47 shirt and has a matching tattoo on his neck in honour of his grandfather, Ronnie, who died at the age of 47. On 26 June 2024, Foden left England's squad during the European tournament to attend the birth of his third child.
Foden is an avid fisherman, considering it one of his favourite activities outside of football.
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 8 September 2026
International
As of match played 31 March 2026
As of match played 31 March 2026
England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Foden goal
Honours
Manchester City
Premier League: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
FA Cup: 2018–19, 2022–23, 2025–26; runner-up: 2023–24, 2024–25
EFL Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2025–26
FA Community Shield: 2018, 2019 2024
UEFA Champions League: 2022–23; runner-up: 2020–21
UEFA Super Cup: 2023
FIFA Club World Cup: 2023
England U17
FIFA U-17 World Cup: 2017
UEFA European Under-17 Championship runner-up: 2017
England
UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2020, 2024
Individual
UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2017
FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball: 2017
BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year: 2017
Alan Hardaker Trophy: 2020
IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2020
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21, 2023–24