Jordan Pickford saved from Josip Drmic in sudden death to ensure England finished third in the inaugural Nations League.
Match Report
Josip Drmic saw his spot-kick saved by Jordan Pickford as England beat Switzerland 6-5 on penalties to claim third place in the Nations League after a goalless draw in Guimaraes.
In the first 90 minutes, England were twice denied by goalkeeper Yann Sommer making fingertip saves to push the ball onto the woodwork, while Callum Wilson had a late strike ruled out following a VAR check.
Sommer again came to Switzerland's rescue during the 30 additional minutes but despite a steady stream of excellent Trent Alexander-Arnold crosses England could not find the breakthrough.
Gareth Southgate's side broke their penalty malaise at last year's World Cup and, after 11 converted kicks, including one from Pickford, the Everton keeper dived to his right to keep out Drmic's poor effort and finally settle the prolonged play-off clash.
Match Events
2' CLOSE! Kane's shot hits the bar
KANE SHOULD HAVE SCORED! It could have been 1-0 to England within the first three minutes as Pickford starts an attacking move with a deep kick into midfield
Kane gets the first touch to it to keep possession, before getting into position on the right-hand side of the box and chipping a ball over the outstretched hand of Sommer.
The ball ricochets off the crossbar and bounces kindly for a Switzerland defender to clear!
14' CHANCE! Sterling's shot saved
Sterling is saved by Sommer from inside the six-yard box!
The winger latches onto a wonderful leading pass from Kane and takes a strike from point-blank range, which is denied by the diving Switzerland goalkeeper!
Had Sterling put the ball anywhere but the centre of the goal with his left foot – it surely would have put England ahead.
55' OFF THE POST! The woodwork saves Switzerland for the second time
AN OWN GOAL ALMOST PUTS ENGLAND AHEAD! Lingard bursts down the left and finds Rose, whose dangerous, skipping delivery bounces just outside the six-yard box for Kane to side-foot home.
Schar goes into a wild sliding challenge to push the ball beyond the England striker, turning it onto his own post before it bounces out!
84' Wilson goal disallowed
ENGLAND LEAD THROUGH WILSON BUT IT’S CHALKED OFF BECAUSE OF VAR!
Rose cuts to the byeline and chips a cross into Alli whose header ricochets off the crossbar.
The rebound comes straight to Wilson who taps it home but the referee immediately signals that he would like a replay.
The review shows an apparent foul by Wilson on Akanji during the build-up, which the match official has deemed illegal! It remains 0-0.
117' GREAT CHANCE! Sterling's shot hits the bar
It has been one of those days for England who have hit the woodwork on an extraordinary amount of occasions.
The Manchester City winger has the target in his sights as he steps up and hits the relatively flat free-kick with immense power – shaking the frame of the goal as it clatters against the bar!
Jamirl
1725
OFFICIAL: A MATCH MORE BORING THAN LIVERPOOL TOTTENHAM HAS BEEN FOUND
JohnMc2018
1535
THE BRONZE MEDAL IS COMING HOME
deebashbhandari
365
Finally Sterling scored in penalty..😂😂😂 What an achievement for him ..😂😂
DaFlyingCat2001
335
Harry Kane has been teaching England Players how to score Penalties.
edenjoseph
314
MAN OF THE MATCH : JOHN STONES CAUSE HE DIDN'T PLAY😂😂😂
TheTactician
270
Can't believe England didn't win in regular time! But it was actually an intense game considering there was no goals. And what an awesome penalty kick session! England finally breaks there penalty curse [Crylaugh] Congrats on third place England! #TheThreeLions #UefaNationsLeague
Nesaiknruy_Legend
210
People: "England is overrated" after England finished 3rd . . Also People: "France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Italy are amazing teams" yet they finished outside of the top 3 bracket in the tournament.... . . The agenda got to stop guys, England is getting better and under Southgate has done quite well considering how many average players are in the squad...
THE_STRONGEST_KING
77
After 120 Minutes and the Penalty Time, Now Finally I Can Take a Peaceful Breath to See ENGLAND Winning 😨😰😲😫🙁😌🙂☺😊 # THE THREE LIONS 🦁🦁🦁 # ROOOOOOOAAAAR 💪😈🦁
PrinceBertrand20
54
i think liverpool should go after yan sommer (30yrs) to be a back up had southgate playedTAA against netherland they would have been in the finals today 20yrs still learning and is one of the top rbs in the world rn
Desmondeyum
52
VAR and England are not friends England are suffering against Netherlands their winning Goal was disallowed due to offside by VAR and against Switzerland to dier goal has been disallowed due to a foul
Desmondeyum
48
Switzerland Goal keeper is my man of the match, he has saved so many shots, he deserves it