ENGLAND and penalty shootout heartache usually goes hand-in-hand. In major tournaments the Three Lions are historically unlucky from the spot - with boss Gareth Southgate all too familiar with that feeling after his costly miss at Euro 96. 2 England's record at shootouts is notoriously poor Credit: Reuters When did England last win a penalty shootout at a World Cup? ENGLAND have been in four penalty shootouts at World Cup finals. They came in 1990, 1998, 2006 and 2018. Up until the win over Colombia, they had lost them ALL. Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley and David Platt scored at Italia 90, but Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle failed to convert their kicks against West Germany. 2 Southgate famously missed at Euro 96 Credit: PA:Press Association Eight years later and it was David Batty who missed the crucial kick against Argentina. And in 2006, England crashed out against Portugal as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher fluffed their lines. But the class of 2018 have finally ended the curse, Jordan Pickford making a key save from Carlos Bacca and Eric Dier slotting home the winner against Colombia. What is their record at major tournaments? AT the Euros England have also won one shootout. They memorably beat Spain at Euro 96, featuring Stuart Pearce's famous roar. However, they have also lost three shootouts in Euros over the years – the semi later that tournament, and in 2004 and 2012. MOST READ IN WORLD CUP 2018 NO HARD FEELINGS Man dumped by Gareth Southgate's wife insists he holds no grudge 'i want a girl' England star Kyle Walker's model girlfriend reveals she wants FOURTH baby<doc-sep>Russell Hope, news reporter It's a free shot, with no defenders nearby, against a goalkeeper who is supposed to stay on the goal-line until the kick is taken. The player can use either foot and have as long or short a run-up as they choose. Yet before England defeated Colombia 4 - 3 on penalties to reach the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup, the Three Lions hadn't won a shoot-out in a major tournament since 1996 - and never in a World Cup. So why do highly trained, highly paid and often highly hyped England footballers normally find it so hard to score in a World Cup penalty shoot-out? Terry Venables' men beat Spain on penalties in the Euro 96 knockout stage, only to miss out on reaching the final by losing to Germany in a heartbreaking shoot-out at Wembley. Advertisement It was the current England manager Gareth Southgate who missed his spot kick that night. Now the curse is broken, we try to explain why the Three Lions paid the penalty so often in previous tournaments. Image: Despite the win over Colombia, England have the worst penalty shoot-out record in senior world football - and the worst of the teams left at Russia 2018 :: Where to watch England-Sweden on the big screen England aren't the only team that struggle But their record is miserable. The Three Lions have lost three of the four World Cup penalty shoot-outs they have been involved in. And let's not mention the European Championships, where they have lost another three (with one win). In short, England have one of the worst senior penalty shoot-out records in world football. Brazil and Germany, with three victories each, have the best World Cup record overall. But while Brazil were eliminated by France at Mexico 86, the Germans have never lost and, of course, beat England at Italia 90. Image: David Batty is consoled by coach Glenn Roeder after missing the decisive penalty against Argentina in 1998 Fail to prepare, prepare to fail Believe it or not, England squads have, on occasion, decided to not practice penalties before or during tournaments. The explanation has often been that, as it's impossible to recreate the atmosphere of a live shoot-out, it's a waste of time. This year, happily, Southgate has kicked all that into touch. In fact, the Football Association commissioned a study into the failed penalty shoot-outs of previous tournaments. Among the information gleaned was that England's players have taken less time to take them than their opponents. Maybe Southgate's men took their penalties slower against Colombia and that helped fire them to success. Image: Jamie Carragher's penalty was saved by Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo as England were eliminated from the 2006 World Cup Know your enemy As well as just practicing taking pens, players should also be aware of what the keeper they are facing is likely to do. In the Russia-Spain shoot-out, Russia's players took advantage of David de Gea's tendency to dive early. Two of the successful Russian penalties went down the middle. Had the Spaniard stood where he was he could have kicked them away. Image: After beating Colombia, England have scored 11 and missed with seven in World Cup penalty shoot-outs Image: David Batty's penalty is saved by Argentina's Carlos Roa at the 1998 World Cup in St Etienne Who's the real hero here? Of course, the goalkeeper is vital to any shoot-out success, too. Under pressure, humans go with what's safe, so knowing each opponents' preferred penalty should be a goalkeeper's shoot-out 1.01. Failing that, at least know their preferred foot. In the 2009 Carling Cup final, Manchester United's 'keeper Ben Foster went one step further, using his phone to revise on Tottenham's penalty-takers before the shoot-out. United won 4-1. Image: Sven Goran Eriksson rallies his England troops in 2006 Who's up for a pen? Nothing says "we could lose this" quite like a manager surrounded by his squad on the pitch at the end of the match trying to recruit clearly reluctant players to take a spot-kick. Everyone looks knackered after 120 minutes of action and volunteers are often in short supply. In short, a clued-up coach knows who will take the first five penalties. It's reported Southgate's list of penalty-takers runs to all 23 members of the squad. Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Kieran Trippier, Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier stepped up to take England's penalties against Colombia. Image: All penalties taken in World Cup shoot-outs Be first A study of 1,000 penalty kicks in World Cups and European Championships by Dr Ignacio Palacio-Huerta of the London School of Economics found teams that go first win 60% of the time. The reason? There's more pressure going second, of course. His research found teams going second in World Cup shoot-outs have a 69% success rate, whereas the team going first scores 73% of the time. Dr Palacio-Huerta said the psychological pressure of "lagging behind" puts those taking the penalties off, making them less likely to score. However, it is not the be-all-and-end-all, as the Three Lions proved on Tuesday night, while Denmark went first on Sunday and lost to Croatia. Image: Chris Waddle is consoled by Germany's Lothar Mattheus after missing the decisive penalty at Italia 90 Aim low If you want to wheel away, kissing the badge on your shirt after your spot-kick, rather than be hugged by someone you'd rather avoid while mournfully trudging back to the half-way line, your best bet is to aim low and to the 'keeper's left, say football data experts Opta. That was the most popular choice of the 170 penalties scored in the 240 kicks attempted at World Cup penalty shoot-outs before Russia 2018. If you choose to go down the middle, aim high. No goalkeeper has saved any of the 15 World Cup shoot-out penalties struck high and centrally. While it's more dangerous to aim for the top part of the goal (just ask Chris Waddle, above), Opta's stats show that over 90% of penalties struck high and either side of the centre of the goal have been scored.<doc-sep>The knock-out match proved a bigger draw than England's group games - more than 18 million watched the matches against Tunisia and Belgium at their peaks, while 14 million saw the win over Panama.<doc-sep>Soccer is not a sport. It is a Rube Goldberg machine invented by the English to steadily dispense national heartbreak over time via penalty shootouts. The device was humming along nicely on Tuesday during the World Cup Round of 16 match between England and Colombia, and the teams finished regulation and extra time tied at 1–1. And then it was time for penalties, which of course meant that England … won? Can that be right? Are we talking about the same England here? You know the one. Little island, bad weather, always loses in penalty shootouts? That very nation converted four of its five attempts and, with a little help from the crossbar and one incredible save from keeper Jordan Pickford, won the shootout 4–3. Play this as many times as you want, it always ends with Eric Dier cooly slotting his spot kick past Colombia’s David Ospina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This young England squad, relatively unencumbered by past failures, somehow managed to break the Rube Goldberg machine. The Three Lions will face Sweden on Saturday in the quarterfinals. Advertisement Tuesday marked the first time England has ever won a World Cup penalty shootout (it lost its previous three), and it came after a match that seemed biologically engineered to end in familiar misery. England was in relative control of the scrappy and ugly affair, and it took a deserved 1–0 lead in the 57th minute through a Harry Kane penalty conversion. Colombia was without injured star James Rodríguez, and it showed. The team plodded around for 93 futile minutes before finally registering a decent shot, when substitute Mateus Uribe forced Pickford into a save with a hopeful, long-range volley in stoppage time. It was at this moment that Colombia realized it was playing against a country that invented the Benny Hill theme song, and so center back Yerry Mina scored from the ensuing corner (his third goal of the tournament). The arena immediately fogged over with half a century’s worth of English agony, which I assume smelled like a mix of wool and spotted dick. Advertisement #MundialTelemundo ¡El gol del milagro! Yerry Mina aparece y le da el empate a #COL ante #ENG . Así lo narró 🎙 @AndresCantorGOL pic.twitter.com/hh5pN1sJ78 — Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 3, 2018 England stayed in its shell for most of extra time, which, to viewers, was akin to watching teenagers in a horror flick run upstairs to get away from an axe murderer. Go for a goal, you fools! Don’t you know that penalties are coming? Advertisement Advertisement When that terrifying specter of a shootout materialized, England did the unthinkable: They won. Thankfully, there is video evidence, otherwise no one would believe it. How does England react to winning shootouts? We have only a small sample size to work with, as this has happened just once in a major tournament, when England beat Spain in the quarterfinals of the 1996 European Championship. England lost its very next match, the semifinal against Germany, and it did so … in a shootout. The player who missed the spot kick that sent his team tumbling out of the tournament was Gareth Southgate. He recovered from that heartache and parlayed a successful playing career into a coaching job, and you may recognize him as England’s current, waist-coated manager at the 2018 World Cup. Does that connection mean anything now that up is down, down is up, Germany were knocked out in the group stage, and England won a match on penalties? If there ever was a time to exorcise two demons in a row, the 2018 World Cup is it. Southgate’s squad just better make sure it beats Sweden in regulation. I mean, have you seen England’s shootout record?<doc-sep>
Jordan Pickford saving Carlos Bacca’s penalty in Moscow (Picture: Getty Images) England made history on Tuesday night by winning a World Cup penalty shootout for the first time ever. The Three Lions drew 1-1 with Colombia on Tuesday night in the last 16 in Russia and the omens did not look good for them going into a shootout after extra-time. Prior to that match England had the worst penalty shootout record in World Cup history losing all three they had contested up to that point. But that has now all changed as Gareth Southgate’s team ended a hoodoo that dated back to 1990. England celebrate their epic win over Colombia (Picture: Getty Images) England have now won one out of four World Cup penalty shootouts, giving them a success ratio of 25%. That is exactly the same record as Italy and Spain, with the Spaniards going out of the World Cup on penalties this summer. England now have a better record than Mexico and Romania who have both lost two out of two shootouts, whilst Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Ghana, Japan, Chile, Greece, Denmark and now Colombia have lost one out of one. England World Cup penalty shootouts 1990 vs West Germany – semi-final Lineker scored Beardsley scored Platt scored Pearce missed Waddle missed 1998 vs Argentina – last 16 Shearer scored Ince missed Merson scored Owen scored Batty missed 2006 vs Portugal – quarter-final Lampard missed Hargreaves scored Gerrard missed Carragher missed 2018 vs Colombia – last 16 Kane scored Rashford scored Henderson missed Trippier scored Dier scored England now have the same record in World Cups as they do in European Championships where they have also won one out of four penalty shootouts. Their overall record in major tournaments now stands at two wins out of eight, a 25% success rate. Harry Kane’s penalty during normal time kept up England’s incredible history of scoring every penalty they have ever been given during a World Cup match. That was Kane’s third of the tournament and now England have scored all 11 penalties they have been given during World Cup matches. MORE : What time is England vs Sweden on Saturday? TV channel and odds for World Cup quarter-final MORE : Eric Dier’s pricless reaction as Jordan Pickford saves to set up winning penalty against Colombia