defoe was capped by england at two youth levels, earning eight caps for the under-16s and seven caps for the under-18s. defoe's form for bournemouth in the 2000–01 season saw him selected for the england under-21 team to play mexico in may 2001, and he marked his debut with the second goal as england u21s won 3–0. he went on to gain 23 caps for england at under-21 level, scoring seven goals.