England are through to the Euro 2024 semi-finals after beating Switzerland on penalties.
The tense game ended 1-1 after extra-time, with both sides unable to break the deadlock.
England then faced a penalty shootout without their captain and de facto penalty taker Harry Kane, who had been replaced by Ivan Toney in the second half of extra time.
There was no need for England fans to panic though, as Gareth Southgate’s side scored all five of their penalties.
After Cole Palmer stepped up first and scored for England, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford helped the team to an early advantage in the shootout as he saved Manuel Akanji’s strike.
England’s Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney then followed suit with three more goals, leaving Trent Alexander-Arnold to coolly put away the fifth.
The match had seen Switzerland go 1-0 up in the 75th minute after a goal from Breel Embolo – but England levelled the score just five minutes later with a goal from Bukayo Saka.
For the second match in a row, England then faced extra time.
Declan Rice came close to giving them the lead five minutes in to the extra half an hour of play, but his long-range effort was tipped around the post by Switzerland’s keeper, Yann Sommer.
England were almost eliminated from the tournament last Sunday after falling 1-0 down to Slovakia – until Jude Bellingham scored a stunning equaliser with seconds to spare.
Harry Kane then scored the winner just minutes into the first half of extra-time, and Southgate’s side held on despite some tense moments.
The England team has faced criticism for delivering underwhelming Euro 2024 performances but Southgate had insisted the players were “in a different place mentally” ahead of today’s match.
Their journey to the last-16 was far from convincing and while they finished top of Group C, England won just one of their three group matches – defeating Serbia 1-0 before drawing with both Denmark and Slovenia.
Central FM
