A year to the day since winning the prestigious youth tournament, Chelsea striker Ugbo's header, shotly after the interval, proved decisive at the Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny. The goal was enough to lift England to the top of Group A after Japan and Cuba drew their earlier match 1-1.
Nottingham Forest's Joe Worrell had England's best chance of the first-half but his headed effort from a corner went just wide. Huddersfield Town’s Ryan Schofield then pulled off a great save at the start of the second half to deny Angola an opener.
The save would prove pivotal as England went ahead five minutes after the restart through Ugbo: the prolific 18-year-old cushioning a header past Joao Bunga Eduardo from an inch-perfect right-wing cross.
Neil Dewsnip's side will be looking to make it two wins from two on Thursday when the Young Lions take on Cuba at the Stade d'Honneur Marcel Roustan in Salon-de-Provence. Ellery's Brentford B teammate Chris Mepham will hope to be involved tomorrow as Wales get their campaign underway against hosts France.
England: 1 Ryan Schofield (Huddersfield Town), 5 Joseph Worrall (capt, Nottingham Forest), 3 Josh Grant (Chelsea), 4 Joshua Tymon (Hull City), 2 Reece James (Chelsea); 12 Tariq Ukwakwe (Chelsea), 11 Ronaldo Vieira (Leeds United), 9 Demetri Mitchell (Manchester United); 15 Daniel Kemp (West Ham United), 14 Elliot Embleton (Sunderland), 20 Ike Ugbo (Chelsea)
Substitutes: 18 David Brooks (Sheffield United) for Ukwakwe 58, 8 Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) for Kemp 58, 17 George Hirst (Sheffield Wednesday) for Ugbo 75
Substitutes not used: 6 Elliott Moore (Leicester City), 7 Japhet Tanganga (Tottenham Hotspur), 10 Callum Slaterry (Southampton), 13 Ellery Balcombe (Brentford), 16 Luke Bolton (Manchester City), 19 Martell Taylor-Crossdale (Chelsea)