Yes, this is every England player's penalty record – because in this country, it's impossible to get through a major tournament without any mention of the P-word.
The Three Lions' shootout record has improved in recent years – they've won two out of three under Gareth Southgate – but stepping up from 12 yards, even outside of football's ultimate, fate-deciding lottery, remains a high-pressure situation. With the knockouts ensured for England, however, and goals hard to come by thus far, there's a very real possibility that at some point, we'll have to decide a fixture with spot-kicks.
Well, FourFourTwo are here to explain how that's going to go down, as we report live from the European Championship. With a little help from www.topoffshoresportsbooks.com, we've got the rundown on the records of those stepping up and between the sticks for England at Euro 2024.
Every England player's penalty record
Every England player's penalty record
*Excluding shootouts
For this table, we've taken every penalty that each player in the England has ever taken, during regulation time of a game, for club or country. We've also considered their record in England shootouts – with no player having taken more than two for their country – but not club shootouts.
England's shootout takers
Who is England's penalty taker?
That'll be Harry Kane. If England are awarded a penalty at any point during Euro 2024, there's only one man picking up the ball – assuming that he's on the pitch.
The all-time Three Lions scorer is first-choice from 12 yards and in a shootout. It's unclear who will take the pen if he's not about – but given that Cole Palmer took one against Bosnia & Herzegovina in a pre-Euros friendly, he's a solid bet to stand up once more if he's playing in Kane's absence.
Who will take penalties for England, in the event of a penalty shootout?
That largely depends on a few factors, including who's on the pitch and who actually wants to take one in the moment. The above table, of those who have netted over 80 per cent of the spot-kicks they've taken, largely pales into insignificance in the moment, as the biggest personalities tend to step up in the heat of a shootout.
Cole Palmer will surely be one of the prime candidates. The Chelsea man has developed a knack for 12 yards and has established himself as one of the best penalty-takers in the league. Likewise, Conor Gallagher, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Bukayo Saka are all seasoned members of Gareth Southgate's side and will likely step forward – despite the latter missing the decisive kick in 2021 against Italy at Wembley.
Kieran Trippier's one England penalty to date was a big one: it put Gareth Southgate's side on the cusp of victory over Colombia at the 2018 World Cup. And everyone loves a penalty-taking goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford dispatched his, in that Nations League shootout win over Switzerland, as emphatically as you'd expect from such a perennially pumped-up shot-stopper.
Jude Bellingham scored one for Real Madrid against Manchester City in the Champions League this season (he's never missed one) and Declan Rice scored one for Arsenal against Porto in the same competition (despite his patchy record), with both being big characters in the camp. Ivan Toney has a phenomenal record, too.
FourFourTwo's expected penalty shootout shortlist, in order:
- Harry Kane
- Cole Palmer
- Bukayo Saka
- Ivan Toney
- Kieran Trippier
- Jude Bellingham
- Conor Gallagher
- Trent Alexander-Arnold
- Declan Rice
- Ebere Eze
How are England's penalty shootout takers decided?
It is likely that penalty takers will be decided ahead of fixtures, based on who volunteers, their record and their capability to dispatch one in a high-pressure situation.
In 2021, Southgate stated that he decided the penalty-takers in England's unsuccessful shootout against Italy in the European Championship final.
In 2018, psychology was apparently considered with the England camp assessing the players' mental state ahead of who was chosen to step up against Colombia. In the third-place play-off of the Nations League a year later, Southgate rotated his spot-kick shortlist to allow other players to step up in the heat of a shootout to give them a chance for experience.
The Three Lions boss brought on Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in extra-time at Wembley at Euro 2020 to take penalties but was roundly criticised after both players missed, having failed to have touched the ball during regulation time. It remains to be seen whether the same tactic will be employed again.
Goalkeepers
Who is England's best penalty-saver?
It's Dean Henderson – despite the fact that Jordan Pickford is England's No.1.
Gareth Southgate infamously brought on Rashford and Sancho to step up for the shootout in the Euro 2020 final, only for the Manchester United men to miss their spot-kicks.
According to research from www.topoffshoresportsbooks.com, perhaps Southgate should bring on a goalkeeper instead.
“Jordan Pickford has an admirable record for England in senior shoot-outs, saving a quarter of the 16 penalties he has faced against Colombia (2018 World Cup), Switzerland (2019 Nations League) and Italy (Euro 2020),” they say.
“However, his overall career record is less impressive, saving just 15 of the 104 penalties he has faced in total, including only 1/20 in the Premier League across the last five seasons. Pickford’s save rate during regular matches (13 per cent) is below the 17 per cent average of all 72 goalkeepers at Euro 2024, raising the question: are England missing a trick?”
No.2 keeper Aaron Ramsdale ranks one per cent behind Pickford. Dean Henderson, however way out ahead of the other two, with 36 per cent.
“That’s the best save rate of any goalkeeper at Euro 2024 to have faced more than five penalties during their career, with Peter Szappanos, Hungary’s third-choice stopper, the only person above him on 40 per cent (2/5),” the research continues.
“Henderson has saved a remarkable 8/22 penalties in matches including 3/7 in the Premier League, thwarting both Harry Kane and Declan Rice in the process. His record in shoot-outs (18 per cent) is marginally better than Pickford’s (17 per cent), while his overall record (28 per cent) is twice as good as England’s No.1.“
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