England's performance in penalty shootouts in World Cups

We now enter into the fourth and final day of the round of 16 knockout stages with England facing off against Colombia. England seek to progress to the quarterfinal of the World Cup for the first time since 2006.

Colombia England Score and Live Commentary, World Cup 2018

England has been one of the perennial chokers in major tournaments since the introduction of penalty shootouts. They have tasted victory once in all 7 penalty shootouts they have been involved in. It's more of a curse than anything for the Three Lions with many of their star players missing the kick from the spot.

We've compiled a list of all the England matches that have ended in a penalty shootout and how it has panned out for the 1966 World Cup champions.

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#1 - 1990 World Cup, Italy: England 1-1 West Germany

1990 World Cup Semi Final. Turin, Italy. 4th July 1990. West Germany 1 v England 1 (West Germany win 4-3 on penalties). England's Chris Waddle fires his penalty over the bar past the dive of West German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner in the shootout.

England's so-called "Penalty Curse" started 28 years ago when familiar foes West Germany took down England 4-3 on penalties to advance to the finals of the 1990 World Cup.

The match had ended 1-1 after extra time as a shot from Andreas Brehme was deflected by Paul Parker into his own net to give the Germans the lead, only to be cancelled out by England with ten minutes left when Gary Lineker scored in the 80th-minute to keep England hopes alive.

It all started well for the English in the penalty shootout as Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley, and David Platt converted their penalties to made it 3-3 after Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthaus, and Karl-Heinze Riedle scored from the spot. The 4th kick from the three lions saw Stuart Pearce stepping up to take it for making 4-3 in favor of England.

But to his and the English fans' dismay, West German custodian Bodo Illgner thwarted the shot from Pearce to make it advantage Germany. Olaf Thon stepped up to make it 4-3 in favor of Germany as he coolly slotted home his penalty with England needing to score the next penalty to stay in the match.

The onus was on Chris Waddle to score the 5th penalty to make it 4-4 in the shootout. But to his misery, Waddle fired his penalty over the crossbar past the diving Bodo Illlgner to give West Germany a 4-3 win on penalties and thus starting their poor run in the penalty shootouts.

#2 - 1998 World Cup, Japan & South Korea: England 2-2 Argentina

Carlos Roa saving Paul Ince penalty

8 years on from that heartbreaking loss to Germany, England once again was dragged into their worst nightmare. Argentina came back to draw the match 2-2 after Gabriel Batistuta gave the Argentines he lead in 5th-minute, only to be equalized by Alan Shearer in the 9th-minute. Michael Owen then scored in the 16th-minute to give England a 2-1 lead only to be equalized at the stroke of halftime by Javier Zanetti. Though the second half did not produce any more goals England were reduced to 10 men after David Beckham was sent off in the 47th-minute.

As the extra time came to a close with the score still 2-2, the match moved on to the dreaded penalty shootout in search for a victor. It was Argentina who started off the proceedings as Sergio Berti scored from the spot to make it 1-0 for the Argentines only to be equalized by Alan Shearer making it 1-1. The next round of penalties saw both the teams failing to score the penalty. Veron, Merson, Gallardo and Owen scored the next 4 penalties respectively leaving both the teams on 3-3. Roberto Ayala then stepped up to make it 4-3, with the weight of a nation on the shoulders of David Batty, he failed to score the final penalty as once again England failed to win a penalty shootout.

#3 - 2006 World Cup, Germany: England vs Portugal

Argentinian referee Horacio Elizondo giving a red card to Wayne Rooney

Another 8 years on from the last minute penalty loss against Argentina, England once again was dragged into the penalty shootout as they drew 0-0 against Portugal.

The match was marred by controversy and saw Cristiano Ronaldo winking after purposefully sending off club teammate Wayne Rooney. 10-man England held their nerve for almost 60 minutes after Wayne Rooney was sent off in the 62nd minute, to take the match into the penalty shootout.

In a repeat of 2004 Euro Cup quarterfinal, where Portugal knocked out England 6-5 on penalties which saw Ricardo saving the spot kick from Darius Vassell and then scoring winner himself for Portugal, it was Portugal who started off proceedings with Simao slotting home to take a 1-0 lead for Portugal. Frank Lampard then had his penalty saved by Ricardo, keeping the score 1-0 in favor of Portugal.

Owen Hargreaves then equalized for England as Hugo Vianna hit the post from the second penalty kick to make it 1-1. Petit then dragged his shot wide of the post to keep the scoreline 1-1 but Steven Gerrard failed to score from the spot as Ricardo yet again pulled off fantastic save to keep it 1-1. Helder Postiga then scored for the Portuguese taking the lead to 2-1 in favor of Portugal while Ricardo yet again saved the third England penalty of the match by blocking a Jaime Carragher spot-kick. Cristiano Ronaldo then slotted home the 5th penalty to give Portugal a 3-1 penalty win over England.

Can the English finally get over their "penalty curse"?