Borussia Dortmund's Jobe Bellingham scored his first goal for England Under-21s
England Under-21s made a winning start to the defence of their European title with a comfortable victory in the opening qualifier in Kazakhstan.
Lee Carsley's side won the European Under-21 Championship in both 2023 and 2025, although most of the players from those successes are now too old to play in the tournament.
Arsenal winger Ethan Nwaneri, 18, gave the Young Lions the lead in the 18th minute with a low strike into the bottom corner following good work by debutant Divin Mubama, who is on loan at Stoke City from Manchester City.
Captain Jobe Bellingham, 19, headed in a second for England when he met a corner from Everton's Tyler Dibling.
Bellingham, the younger brother of England midfielder Jude, missed the European Under-21 Championship in the summer as he was playing for Borussia Dortmund in the Fifa Club World Cup in the United States following his £27.8m move from Sunderland.
Nwaneri almost added a third goal, but his curling free-kick was tipped over the top.
The 2027 tournament takes place in Albania and Serbia, with both host nations qualifying automatically in the 16-country competition.
There are nine qualifying groups, with Andorra, Moldova, the Republic of Ireland and Slovakia the other sides in Group D.
Only the winners are guaranteed to qualify, along with the second-placed team with the best record. The other eight runners-up will meet in play-offs to decide the final four qualifiers.
England travel to Moldova for their next match on 10 October, before entertaining Andorra three days later at Derby County's Pride Park.
