Arsenal star Theo Walcott has been named in Stuart Pearce's squad

England Under-21's European Championship qualifier against Macedonia on Friday will be broadcast for free by the Football Association.

The match, which starts at 1945 BST, will be the first England game streamed live on the FA website.

FA chief executive Ian Watmore said: "This is the best way to ensure as many fans as possible get the chance to see England's young stars for free."

The contest will take place at Coventry's Ricoh Arena.

The FA says the reason for the decision came about because "UK broadcasters confirmed they were unable to schedule the match during peak-time".

The news comes in the week it was announced that England's senior team will have their World Cup qualifier in the Ukraine on Saturday shown exclusively live to subscribers on the internet.

Kentaro - an international agency appointed by the Ukrainian Football Federation - has the UK rights for the game and when contacted by BBC Sport on Wednesday, it would not reveal how many viewers had subscribed to the match.

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