Former Chelsea and Aston Villa midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka has switched allegiances from England to Austria ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
The 22-year-old, who joined Borussia Dortmund last year, played every game of England’s Under 19 Euros title victory in 2022, including scoring the second goal in the Young Lions’ 3-1 extra time victory over Israel in the final.
Chukwuemeka has made 22 appearances in the Bundesliga this season, scoring twice. Dortmund are famous for nurturing young English talent, with both Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho enjoying succesful spells there.
FIFA allows players to switch national teams once if they hold dual citizenship, and provided they have played no more than three competitive senior matches before turning 21. Chukwuemeka has never made a senior appearance for England.
Chukwuemeka could be called up to the Austrian team ahead of their upcoming friendlies against Ghana and South Korea later this month with a view to being a part of the squad at this summer’s World Cup.
Chukwuemeka (middle) scored the second goal in England’s 3-1 extra time victory over Israel in the final of the Under 19 European Championship in 2022
The former Chelsea midfielder joined Borussia Dortmund permanently last summer after a successful six-month loan spell with the Bundesliga side
Ralf Rangnick‘s side have qualified for the 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico after a 28-year absence from the global showpiece.
Chukwuemeka was born in Vienna to Nigerian parents and was raised in Northampton. The then 12-year-old joined the Aston Villa academy from the Northampton Town academy in March 2016, before signing his first professional contract with Villa in July 2020.
He made his Premier League debut for Villa in May 2021 in a 2-1 away win against Tottenham, before moving to Chelsea on a six-year contract for £20million in August 2022.
He made 32 appearances for the Blues, although never played a full 90 minutes, and was frozen out by Enzo Maresca in 2024-25, going completely unused in the Premier League under the Italian.
He initially joined Dortmund on loan in February last year, before making a permament move for £24million in the summer.
In March last year he received his first call-up to the England Under 21 squad, but was unable to feature in either match against Azerbaijan or Luxembourg due to injury.
