young was named in southgate's 23-man england national team squad for the 2018 fifa world cup. young was england's first-choice left-back in russia, playing the entirety of their first two group matches against tunisia and panama. with qualification for the knockout stage secure after winning both matches, young was rested for the final game against belgium, before returning for the round of 16 tie against group h winners colombia. that match went to extra time, but young was replaced by danny rose 12 minutes into the additional period and played no part in the penalty shoot-out after the match finished as a 1–1 draw. england won 4–3 on penalties and progressed to a quarter-final against sweden, against whom young again played the full 90 minutes as england won 2–0, with young providing the assist for harry maguire's opening goal from a corner. in the semi-final against croatia, young again started the match, but was against replaced by rose at the start of extra time, with the score at 1–1 after 90 minutes. england ultimately lost the match 2–1 after extra time, and southgate chose to rest young for the third-place play-off against belgium. england lost again, but their fourth place finish was their best performance at a fifa world cup since 1990.