England wouldn’t be England if they didn’t endure some form of penalty heartache when exiting a major international tournament, and that was indeed the case as the Three Lions lost to France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.
While Gareth Southgate’s side had the better of the game for the majority, they were left to rue a late missed spot-kick from Harry Kane as they fell to a 2-1 defeat. The England captain had already equalised from 12 yards early in the second half, but skied his effort over the crossbar when facing off against Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Hugo Lloris for a second time on the night.
At least it was different from the traditional penalty shootout exit, though that will be no consolation to the England captain - who is normally so reliable from the spot. As a result, he doesn’t join an ever-growing list of shootout villains dating back to Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle at Italia ‘90, and then Southgate himself at Euro ‘96. We’ve come a long way from the Pizza Hut boys!
