England have so far cunningly avoided being eliminated from World Cup 2026 on penalties by not yet playing in a knock-out match.
The Group L winners will get their chance. Their round of 32 fixture against and Bukayo Saka might find themselves conveniently on the pitch come shootout time.
Jude Bellingham will be expected to take responsibility for a penalty too. Anthony Gordon will be in the running if he’s on the pitch and Rashford, Eze or Saka are not.
The only person who really knows the running order is Tuchel himself, and we know the England manager has had penalties in mind for some time. The inclusion of Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney was, he suggested by way of an explanation, driven by data.
The former Brentford striker has an exceptional penalty record over a very substantial sample size.
FourFourTwo’s expected penalty shootout shortlist, in order:
- Harry Kane
- Marcus Rashford
- Jude Bellingham
- Declan Rice
- Ivan Toney
- Bukayo Saka
- Elliot Anderson
- Marc Guehi
- Djed Spence
- Nico O’Reilly
Goalkeepers
Who is England’s best penalty saver?
Pickford will be in goal for any penalty shootout England find themselves in. There’s no chance Tuchel hooks him for a specialist late in extra time, not least because he has one particular iron-fisted World Cup save on his CV.
England’s number one has also saved 11 non-shootout penalties out of 69 in the entirety of his career, a save rate of around 15%.
Dean Henderson’s save percentage is a very impressive 35% thanks to 12 saves from 34 non-shootout penalties faced.
James Trafford has saved five penalties out of 16, conceding the only penalty he has faced in his young England career in the friendly against Uruguay in March.