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.


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

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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. Perhaps that is why England captain Harry Kane - who normally goes low - has been practising a new one and blasted two unstoppable penalties into the top corner in England's 6-1 win over Panama.

Image: From despair in (clockwise from left) 1990, 2006 and 1998....