Whenever England go to a major tournament, the spectre of penalties is always on everyone's minds. And for good reason. The Three Lions have contested eight shootouts in their last 14 outings at either European Championships or World Cups, and they have won just two of them, beating Spain in the quarter-finals of Euro 1996 and Colombia in the last eight of the 2018 World Cup.
Their success over Colombia in Moscow, plus a Nations League shootout win against Switzerland a year later, had some people wondering whether the team's curse from 12 yards had come to an end. But then Gareth Southgate's side were beaten by Italy in the shootout in the Euro 2020 final despite it being at Wembley, kicking in front of their own fans and taking the lead.
An inability to convert penalties also saw England knocked out of the last World Cup, albeit not in the usual way. Even Harry Kane let the weight of history get to him when he smashed his spot-kick over the bar in the quarter-final against France, wasting the chance to draw the Three Lions level.
Having drawn three of their first four matches after 90 minutes in a hugely underwhelming showing at Euro 2024, it seems highly likely that England will once again have to do the 12-yard dance if they want to win the trophy. And don't be surprised if Saturday's quarter-final tie with Switzerland is decided on penalties, as three of the last four knockout games the Swiss have played at the Euros have gone to spot-kicks.
GOAL runs through England's best penalty-takers who have the best chance of holding their nerve if they need to take the long, lonely walk to the penalty spot in Germany...