Jarrod Bowen exclusive: West Ham forward on Europa League chances, England EURO2024 dream and 'Brits on tour' in Dublin this summer

Not only did that triumph end the club’s 43-year wait for a major honour, it also booked them a place in this season’s UEFA Europa League group stages. Topping that UEFA Europa Conference League triumph was always going to be challenging, but Bowen and Co have made an impressive start so far.

Drawn alongside Freiburg, Olympiacos and Serbian side Backa Topola, West Ham comfortably topped their group, winning five out of their six games. This highly-professional campaign continued an impressive streak for Bowen, with the Hammers finishing first in the group in each of his three campaigns in UEFA club competitions. It’s a feat that he takes a great deal of pride in.

“When you get the draw, you want to win the group comfortably,” he told GOAL, speaking as part of UEFA Europa League’s Rise Up campaign, which tells the stories of the tournament's most promising young talents. “You want to get confidence going into the knockouts, but also you go straight into the round of 16 if you top your group, and we’ve done that the two years we’ve been in Europe.

"We want to be unbeaten in Europe - I think you get a lot of confidence from that. Every year we’ve been in it, that’s the same way we’ve gone about it.”

West Ham’s recent, near-flawless record in European competition is particularly impressive considering some of the difficult away trips they have been handed in recent years. Last season, FCSB’s attempts to intimidate the Hammers’ young side fell flat, while Backa Topola’s 4,500-capacity TSC Arena presented an entirely different challenge altogether earlier this season. For Bowen, though, there is one away atmosphere that stands out over everything else.

“A good one was our first one, Dinamo Zagreb away. They just had a big wall of fans - it was quite far from the pitch. That was obviously our first taste of the European atmosphere, what it was going to be like. Their fans were really good, really loud. There’s a load of them that don’t look at the game - they’re just getting everyone going! But yeah, I thought that was a really good atmosphere from them,” he said.

West Ham experienced a similarly-charged welcome when they travelled to Freiburg in this season’s group stages. Bowen helped dim the home crowd’s enthusiasm early on, though, providing a pinpoint cross that Lucas Paqueta nodded home superbly inside 10 minutes. The German side did equalise just after half-time, but Nayef Aguerd settled it soon after, heading James Ward-Prowse’s corner in off the bar to ensure the Hammers went home with all three points.

It was the perfect European away performance - and Bowen’s side may be required to replicate it this month after they were drawn against Freiburg once again, this time in the round of 16. Asked whether he watched the draw, Bowen couldn’t help but laugh, admitting that he wasn’t aware that such an eventuality was possible.

“I didn’t think we could actually draw Freiburg because we’d already played them in the group! I thought there was a rule… but obviously we’ve got them again,” he said. “It was difficult when we played them, especially away, but we won, the same at home.”

Bowen insisted West Ham will not be taking their opponents lightly, however, adding: “I’m sure they are going to be wanting revenge for the two games we beat them. We’ll have to study them again and study what we did well, and look at what we can improve on going into the next game. It's a knockout so it’s totally different to group stages - there’s a lot more on the line. I think it’s set up for two really good games.”

Progress against Freiburg and the Hammers may permit themselves to start dreaming of further European glory. There is a long way to go, of course, but the fact that there are currently three other British teams - Liverpool, Brighton and Rangers - left in the running certainly adds some spice to proceedings for Bowen, especially with the final set to be played at the Dublin Arena.

“It’d be Brits on tour in Ireland wouldn’t it!” Bowen joked. “No, but there’s lots of great teams. You watch the draw the other day and some of the big names: AC Milan, Benfica, Sporting CP are still in the competition. And then you look at the group winners, which are ourselves, Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen, Brighton have done really well in Europe. There’s lots of great teams in there and whatever the final is going to be, it’s going to be a really top final.”

Bowen’s success in the UEFA Europa League this season may take on an even greater significance, in what is a major tournament year. He made his England debut back in the summer of 2022, playing in all four of his side’s UEFA Nations League fixtures against Hungary (twice), Germany and Italy.

However, he would end up missing out on the Three Lions’ 2022 World Cup squad and only returned to the setup in October 2023, where he finally made his Wembley bow against Australia. Asked whether his performances in Europe might help give him an edge over some of his positional rivals ahead of EURO2024, Bowen was philosophical about his chances.

“It’s just how you do in the season and when you get your opportunity, how well you take it. When you get that opportunity you’ve got to take it with both hands. You have lots of players who want to go to the Euros, myself included, but there’s a lot of football to be played until then. So you can’t get too ahead, it’s just take each game as it comes and keep trying to play your best and if it happens, it happens.”

And Bowen is certainly playing close to his best right now. Thriving in a new central striker role, he netted the first hat-trick of his senior career in a 4-2 victory over London rivals Brentford last month. That haul ensured that he will finish the season with his highest-ever Premier League goal tally; he’s currently on 14, with 12 being his previous best in 2021-22.

Even with the forward in the form of his career, it still might not be quite enough to make the 23, such is the abundance of attacking riches Gareth Southgate has at his disposal. But inspire West Ham to another European final and he may just become too difficult to ignore.

Visit the ‘Rise Up’ section on the UEFA Europa League website to find out more about the series that shines a spotlight on the most promising players in the tournament.