England are into the knockouts at Qatar 2022 but could face a tough route to the World Cup final. So HITC Football looks at who joins Marcus Rashford among their best penalty takers.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions came through top of Group B after thrashing Iran and Wales 6-2 and 3-0 respectively. Those results saw the 1966 champions pip the USA for first place after they drew 0-0 in match two. The Stars and Stripes will now take on the Netherlands.
Senegal await England on Sunday, December 4 at Al Bayt Stadium as they finished second to Oranje in Group A. But the winners of the tie in Al Khor will face the winner of the clash between 2018 champions France and the so far underwhelming Poland in the quarter-final.
Spain may also await England in the semi-finals if they overcome Morocco and win their quarter-final. Japan stunned La Roja, having already beaten Germany, to push the 2010 winners into the runners-up spot in Group E. Die Mannschaft went home on goal difference.
England required penalties to beat Colombia during the Round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The match in Moscow had ended as a 1-1 draw after extra time after Yerry Mina’s 90+3’ equaliser. Yet the Three Lions won a shootout at the World Cup for the very first time.
England have only won one of their four World Cup penalty shootouts to date
Penalties have settled four of England’s fixtures at World Cups through the Three Lions’ 16 appearances so far. They lost 4-3 to West Germany in the semi-final at Italia 90, 4-3 against Argentina in the Round of 16 at France 1998 and Portugal in the quarters at Germany 2006.
Jordan Pickford of Everton helped England finally win a World Cup penalty shootout against Colombia at Russia 2018. Mateus Uribe let Jordan Henderson off the hook when he rattled the crossbar. Pickford then produced a super stop to deny Carlos Bacca from 12 yards out.
Eric Dier stepped up and scored England’s fifth penalty to win the shootout at the Otkrytie Bank Arena. Southgate would go on to guide the Three Lions to the semi-final before they lost 2-1 to Croatia after extra time. England beat Sweden 2-0 in their quarter-final fixture.
Only 11 of England’s 23 outfield players in Qatar have scored more than 50%
Yet Dier is one of eight players in Southgate’s Qatar 2022 squad who has never attempted a penalty for his club or country during regular or extra time. Phil Foden, Kalvin Phillips, Kyle Walker, Ben White, John Stones, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are also yet to try one.
Kieran Trippier has also missed the two penalties he has attempted outside of any shootout. Both came in 2019 with one for Tottenham Hotspur during an FA Cup loss to Crystal Palace. The other came against Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League with Atletico Madrid.
Declan Rice, meanwhile, has scored one of his three attempted penalties during regular and extra time. All three came at West Ham and against English players. He has only beaten Aaron Ramsdale with Dean Henderson saving his strike and missing Sam Johnstone’s net.
Raheem Sterling and Henderson also only boast 50% success rates from 12 yards so far. The Chelsea forward has scored from four of his eight attempts in his career to date. While the latter has converted just one penalty with Liverpool in 2015 and missed one for England.
So, with England into the knockout stages at the 2022 World Cup, HITC Football looks at who the best penalty takers are among the 23 outfield players Southgate took to Qatar…
=10) Maddison has only missed one of his six attempted penalties to date
James Maddison arrived at Qatar 2022 with an 83% conversion rate from 12 yards out so far in his club and international career. The midfielder has scored five of his six attempted penalties. He has also not missed from the spot since facing Cardiff City in December 2018.
The Bluebirds are, however, just one of two teams Maddison has taken a penalty against for Leicester City. He scored all four of his attempted spot-kicks at Norwich City before moving to the King Power Stadium for £20m in June 2018. Yet just one of his penalties led to a win.
=10) Saka has responded terrifically to his missed penalty in the Euro 2020 final
Bukayo Saka has not taken a penalty during regular or extra time and finished on the losing team. The 21-year-old has also scored all three of his strikes for Arsenal – including against Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy of Senegal plus Manchester United and Liverpool in 2022 so far.
His other conversions from the spot were for England U18s in 2018 and Arsenal U18s in the FA Youth Cup in 2019 against Tottenham. But Vitezslav Jaros saved his strike for the Czech Republic’s U18s in a friendly in 2018. It was the second of Saka’s six penalties taken so far.
Saka scoring penalties against three of Arsenal’s five big-six rivals shows the confidence the winger has kept after Euro 2020. At just 19 years old, Saka took England’s fifth and last kick in the final shootout loss to Italy. But Gianluigi Donnarumma saved the forward’s attempt.
9) Wilson has a clinical but not perfect record from 12 yards out
Callum Wilson has only played a bit-part role in England’s efforts at Qatar 2022 but could be key if penalties are required. Through regular and extra time, the striker has converted 16 of his 19 attempts for an 84% success rate. He has also not missed from the spot since 2018.
Since Neil Etheridge saved his strike for Cardiff, Wilson has scored his last eight penalties. He has also not gone on to lose after scoring a penalty in regular and extra time since 2016 at Arsenal. His penalty also helped to beat Liverpool seven days after losing to the Gunners.
8) Volume of attempts gives Kane a lesser conversion rate with his penalties
Harry Kane taking most of Tottenham and England’s penalties restricts the Three Lions skipper’s conversion rate. He has attempted, by far, the most of any outfield England player in Qatar with 67. But the striker has an 85% conversion rate after scoring from 57 attempts.
Three of Kane’s 10 missed penalties have also been for England, including against Denmark in the semi-final of Euro 2020. But the 29-year-old did react in time to score the rebound of his 104th-minute attempt to seal a 2-1 win over De Rod-Hvide after extra time at Wembley.
7) Rashford has the confidence to score from the spot for his club and country
Marcus Rashford has shown he has the confidence to score from the spot for his club or for his country. The forward has found the back of the net with 15 of his 17 attempts so far for an 88% conversion rate. Each of his missed penalties were for Manchester United in 2019.
The 25-year-old has scored all four of his penalties for England during regular and extra time over all age levels. Rashford’s effort failed to stop a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in the 2019 UEFA Nations League semi-finals, though. It was his only defeat after scoring a penalty.
Rashford also missed his penalty during the shootout for the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy. Southgate brought the Red Devils product on in Henderson’s place in the 123rd minute. But Rashford hit the base of the outside of the post after sending Donnarumma the wrong way.
6) Grealish has a 100% record but took his last penalty back in 2016
Jack Grealish has a 100% record from the spot but has not taken a penalty since 2016 with Aston Villa. It was also the only penalty that the £100m Manchester City midfielder has ever taken in his career. He found the back of the net against rivals Wolves during January 2016.
5) Bellingham only scored his first career penalty during October 2022
Jude Bellingham is playing an instrumental role in England’s efforts at the World Cup at just 19 years old. But Southgate may not ask the Borussia Dortmund star to take a penalty in Qatar. He only attempted – but scored – his first penalty against Hannover this October.
4) Mount does not take many but is perfect with his penalties so far
Mason Mount does not take penalties that often but he is perfect from the spot to date. The 23-year-old has scored with his two attempts during regular or extra time so far. Both came with Chelsea in 2021 during a 1-1 draw with Southampton and a 7-0 win against Norwich.
3) Coady has a perfect record from 12 yards out in his career to date
Conor Coady has a perfect record from 12 yards out but the Everton defender has not taken a penalty since 2018. It was his only attempt for Wolves before leaving on loan this summer. His previous three conversions came in Liverpool’s youth ranks in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
2) Alexander-Arnold could emerge as Southgate’s secret weapon in Qatar
Trent Alexander-Arnold could emerge as Southgate’s secret weapon in Qatar with the right-back seldom featuring so far. The England coach could turn to the Liverpool star if penalties are needed having scored all four of his attempts. Although he has not tried one since 2017.
All four of Alexander-Arnold’s penalties during regular or extra time came for England’s U19 side in 2016 and 2017. Three of which were in UEFA Euro U19 Championship qualifying fixtures against Wales (returning his only defeat after taking a penalty), Greece and Spain.
1) Gallagher is the best penalty taker among England’s 2022 World Cup squad
On conversion rates alone, Conor Gallagher is the best penalty taker among the 23 outfield players in England’s World Cup squad. The Chelsea midfielder has scored with all five of his attempts from 12 yards out during regular or extra time. But they were each at U18 level.
Gallagher has also not taken a penalty since facing Reading in the U18 Premier League in January 2018, as well. His other four attempts from the spot came evenly split with two against Manchester United and Tottenham. Only his hits against Spurs did not lead to wins.
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