England 1-1 Switzerland (5-3 on penalties): Three Lions win it on the penalty kick line to advance to the semifinals.
After a 1-1 draw in Dusseldorf, England defeated Switzerland 5-3 in a penalty shootout to go to the semi-finals; Trent Alexander-Arnold converted the winning kick after Jordan Pickford had saved from Manuel Akanji.
Pickford denied Akanji, Switzerland's first attempt, and Trent Alexander-Arnold hammered home the winning penalty to seal a suspenseful 5-3 shootout victory. Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Ivan Toney also maintained composure.
When Dan Ndoye's deflected cross from close range was poked in by Switzerland's Breel Embolo in the 75th minute, England appeared to be headed for an easy exit from the competition. However, they will now play either the Netherlands or Turkey in the semi-finals.
Shortly after, though, Saka—arguably the most dangerous player in England—found a way to tie the score when he cut inside and curled a spectacular finish in off the post from beyond the box. Saka was playing as a right wing-back for the first time.
Saka's goal was England's first effort on goal, and Gareth Southgate's team struggled through extra time, almost escaping heart-stopping moments when Zeki Amdouni's drive was parried and Xherdan Shaqiri struck the post straight from a corner.
All of that was irrelevant, though, as England prevailed in the shootout to vanquish the memory of their penalties-based loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. They will now face each other in the semifinals on Wednesday night in Dortmund at 8 p.m.
England's ambition of winning a trophy for the first time since 1966 is still alive, but Southgate has some work ahead of him. One problem is to coax more out of his unmotivated captain Harry Kane, who was replaced by Toney prior to the shootout after a lackluster performance.
