England’s quest for a first major tournament win in 58 years remained alive after another late fightback, before beating Switzerland 5-3 on penalties to book their place in the Euro 2024 semi-finals on Saturday. After the 120 minutes ended in a 1-1 draw, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was the Three Lions’ hero in the penalty shootout, saving Switzerland’s first penalty, from Manuel Akanji. Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold converted their penalties to send England into the semi-finals against Turkey or the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday. After needing Bellingham to equalize in the 95th minute before beating Slovakia in extra time in the last 16, England were again on the brink of defeat with 10 minutes remaining.
A dreary encounter during the first 75 minutes came to life after Breel Embolo put Switzerland ahead.
Saka’s fine shot from outside the box equalized with England’s first shot on target five minutes later.
Manchester City defender Akanji was then the unfortunate penalty villain as Switzerland’s horrific record in major tournament quarter-finals continues.
They have already lost five without ever reaching the semi-finals.
In contrast, England press on, despite another, in a series of disappointing displays from Gareth Southgate’s men.
“We know that there are two more games, we can change our lives and make more history than has ever been made before,” said man of the match Saka.
In his 100th match in charge of his country, Southgate again resisted calls for mass personnel changes but altered his system.
Ezri Konsa made his international debut in place of the suspended Marc Guehi as England switched to a back three.
However, contrary to expectations, Saka remained on the right, in what proved to be an inspired decision by Southgate.
The Arsenal winger was by far the biggest threat in a first half in which neither team managed to get a shot on target.
Saka bypassed Michel Aebischer at will and created the best chance of the first period when Kobbie Mainoo saw a shot deflected behind just before the half-time whistle.
The game continued at the same difficult pace for both sides in the second half.
Southgate has been repeatedly criticized for being too slow to influence games with his substitutions.
Despite having one of the most talented teams in the tournament, it took until they fell behind for the England manager to shake things up.
England looked set for a smooth exit when Embolo pounced at the back post to deflect Dan Ndoye’s cross at the far post.
Southgate reacted immediately with Palmer, Eberechi Eze and Luke Shaw, making his first appearance since February, sent on.
Within five minutes they were level when Saka cut inside and shot low and hard at the far post.
Switzerland were indebted to a brilliant save from Yann Sommer, who prevented Declan Rice from scoring England’s second early in extra time.
Harry Kane was then forced into injury after a bad fall on the England bench.
And it was Switzerland who came closest in the second half of extra time when Xherdan Shaqiri’s corner came off the post before Pickford deflected Zeki Amdouni’s powerful strike from distance.
England had won just one of their five previous Euro penalty shootouts, including their defeat to Italy in the final three years ago.
But they were perfect at the time as Saka erased some of the pain of his decisive miss in the Euro 2020 final.
“For me, it’s something I embrace,” Saka added. “You may fail once, but you have the option to put yourself in that position again.
“I believe we have some of the best players in the Premier League and the world.
“We were quite confident about penalties and we showed that today. We scored five out of five and went through to the next round.”
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