---
title: "Newcastle’s Kyran Thompson starts England final as Spain end Young Lions’ perfect tournament run"
canonical: "https://readnewcastle.com/2026/10/04/newcastles-kyran-thompson-starts-england-final-as-spain-end-young-lions-perfect-tournament-run/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "James Chettle"
section: "Newcastle United Academy News"
published: "2026-10-04T11:25:00Z"
modified: "2026-10-04T11:25:00Z"
---

# Newcastle’s Kyran Thompson starts England final as Spain end Young Lions’ perfect tournament run

Newcastle United youngster Kyran Thompson started England Under-18s’ UEFA Friendship Cup final as Spain ended the Young Lions’ winning run with a 2-0 victory.

Thompson played 69 minutes in Nyon on Saturday before Barcelona’s Ajay Tavares replaced him.

Fellow Newcastle prospects Michael Mills, Sam Alabi and Roman Dowell remained on the bench, with Thompson the only member of the quartet to feature in the final.

According to [England’s official match report](https://www.westeurope.englandfootball.com/articles/2026/Oct/03/england-mu18s-v-spain-match-report-20260310), Junior opened the scoring late in the first half before Cruz added Spain’s second in stoppage time.

England twice struck the woodwork while chasing an equaliser, but could not add a fourth victory to their wins over Colombia, Egypt and Korea Republic.

> Michael Mills, Kyran Thompson, Sam Alabi and Roman Dowell finished as runners-up for [@England](https://x.com/England?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) in the UEFA Friendship Cup 🥈\
> \
> Our Academy quartet all received their first international call-ups for the Three Lions at Under-18 level ahead of competing at the tournament in… [pic.twitter.com/LiSzmlKfgH](https://t.co/LiSzmlKfgH)
>
> — Newcastle United (@NUFC) [October 3, 2026](https://x.com/NUFC/status/2106438794375213497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

## Newcastle quartet leave with milestones

The final disappointment followed a productive tournament for Newcastle’s academy contingent.

All four players received their first England Under-18 call-ups, as [Newcastle’s international round-up confirms](https://www.newcastleunited.com/en/news/international-call-ups-september-october-2026).

Mills scored against Colombia and then came off the bench to hit the winner against Egypt. Alabi opened the scoring against Korea Republic on his first start at this level.

Thompson also contributed to the Colombia opener, with Mills following up after his effort was saved.

For goalkeeper Dowell, the tournament added international experience to his recent progress with Newcastle’s Under-21s. We previously examined [Dowell’s rapid rise through the Newcastle academy](https://readnewcastle.com/2026/09/27/roman-dowell-newcastle-rise-england-u18/).

Those contributions give Newcastle supporters more to take from the trip than the final score alone: goals for Mills and Alabi, international experience for Dowell and a place in the final starting XI for Thompson.