DUESSELDORF, Germany Three years after losing the European Championship final on penalties, England beat Switzerland on penalties to reach the Euro 2024 semi-finals.
Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the winning goal as England won the shootout 5-3 after a 1-1 extra-time draw on Saturday.
“The team showed a lot of character, belief, heart and spirit,” Alexander-Arnold told the BBC.
England converted their first four penalties and Alexander-Arnold won the game with the fifth, curling his shot into the top corner. Another who scored was Bukayo Saka, who missed the last penalty in the last penalty shootout in 2021 and suffered racial abuse on social media.
Saka also equalized early to ensure the game went to extra time after the Swiss had taken the lead.
The other scorers in the penalties were Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Ivan Toney, who returned in January from an eight-month suspension for breaching betting rules.
England led the shootout after goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved from Manuel Akanji, who took Switzerland’s first penalty.
England will face either Turkey or the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday for a place in the final.
Switzerland, who have never reached the semi-finals of a major tournament, are eliminated from the European Championship on penalties in the quarter-finals for the second time in a row, following their defeat to Spain three years ago.
It was the second game in a row that England had left behind to win, after beating Slovakia 2-1 after extra time in the round of 16.
The quarter-final went into extra time after English striker Saka scored with a shot against the post in the 80th minute to cancel out Breel Embolo’s goal five minutes earlier for Switzerland. It was England’s first shot on target, in a cautious and cautious performance from the 2021 runners-up.
The Swiss had the best chances to win in extra time, including substitute Xherdan Shaqiri hitting the post from a corner. Pickford saved from substitute Zeki Amdouni in the 119th minute to keep England in the game.
England were without captain and striker Harry Kane for the penalty shootout after he collided with manager Gareth Southgate on the touchline while fighting for the ball and appeared to be injured. He was replaced by Toney.
Taking charge of his 100th game on Saturday, Southgate has led England to at least the semi-finals in three of the four major tournaments in his eight-year tenure.
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