England are preparing for a World Cup 2026 round of 16 clash against Mexico, and with another major tournament knockout game comes the inevitable focus on penalties. The Three Lions have a mixed history from the spot, but under former manager Gareth Southgate they won three of their last four shootouts.
Recent Shootout Success
England's most recent penalty shootout was at Euro 2024, when they beat Switzerland 5-3 on spot-kicks following a 1-1 draw in Dusseldorf to reach the semi-finals. Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all scored from 12 yards. Toney's penalty was notable for the striker not looking at the ball when he struck it.
However, current manager Thomas Tuchel would have to make changes to that lineup at this World Cup, having left Palmer and Alexander-Arnold at home.
Alan Shearer's Top Five
England legend Alan Shearer has revealed his ideal five penalty takers for the current squad. "For me, my five would be: Harry Kane, Anthony Gordon, Ivan Toney, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford," Shearer told Betfair.
He added: "I've been in that situation where you've got your five before the game and there may be only two left on the pitch. So, you have to chop and change. But in an ideal world, if it goes to penalties, then those would be my five."
Pressure? What Pressure?
After England's shootout win over Switzerland in 2024, Shearer produced a now-famous speech about the pressure the players had overcome. He said at the time: "Palmer, Bellingham, Saka, Toney, Trent. Pressure? What pressure? Pressure is for tyres! It's a different generation. They don't feel it. How confident were they? They had the belief."
Shearer himself scored in the Three Lions' loss on penalties to Germany in the Euro 96 semi-final on home soil, part of a run of six England shootout defeats in seven. Southgate missed the decisive penalty that day at the old Wembley.
Overhauling Penalty Methodology
After being hired as England manager in late 2016, Southgate and the FA overhauled the team's penalty methodology, borrowing principles from a book called Pressure: Lessons from the psychology of the penalty shootout. The book insisted penalties should be deconstructed step-by-step, rather than construed as a 'lottery' or 'luck'.
Learning that process culminated in England's first-ever World Cup penalty shootout victory, against Colombia in the last 16 in Moscow in 2018. Kane and Rashford scored that day, with Jordan Pickford saving two penalties in a 4-3 shootout win.
England have won three of their last four shootouts since then, including against Switzerland in the third-place play-off of the Nations League in 2019, when Pickford scored one himself and saved another in a 6-5 triumph. There was another agonising loss on penalties in the final of the delayed Euro 2020 tournament five years ago, 3-2 against Italy at Wembley.
