England beat Switzerland in a dramatic penalty shootout in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Saturday to reach the semifinals of Euro 2024.
Manuel Akanji missed the crucial penalty as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford leapt down to his left to give England an advantage they never gave up. Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the final penalty to send England into their second consecutive European Championship semifinal.
Switzerland struck first in the game after an even first half as Breel Embolo, who missed most of the domestic season with an injury, scored the first goal of the quarterfinal in the 75th minute.
Embolo took advantage of a bouncing ball in the 18-yard box that ricocheted of John Stones’ leg, reacting fastest and poking it past Pickford in the England net.
ESPN reports that Gareth Southgate immediately responded with changes, bringing on Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze and Luke Shaw, who last played competitively on February 18 and has been recovering from a hamstring injury.
That action reaped rewards as Bukayo Saka picked up the ball from his Arsenal teammate Declan Rice on the right wing, cut inside and curled home a stunning left-footed strike that went in off the base of Yann Sommer’s post to level proceedings and send the travelling England fans into rapture.
Neither team could regain the advantage in either the final 10 minutes of the game or extra time, and it was Akanji’s miss that proved decisive as England moves on to play either Turkey or The Netherlands.
