England 1-1 (5-3 PKs) Switzerland: Three Lions reach semifinals

England beat Switzerland on penalty kicks in Dusseldorf to reach the EURO 2024 semifinals, as Gareth Southgate’s side battled past a tough Swiss outfit.

[ MORE: EURO 2024 schedule, bracket ]

Switzerland took the lead with 15 minutes to go in normal time through Breel Embolo but Bukayo Saka made it 1-1 soon after and the game went to extra time.

Both teams had chances to win it but the game went to penalty kicks and all five of England’s takers scored with Jordan Pickford saving Manuel Akanji’s spot kick and Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the winning spot kick to send England’s fans wild.

England finally arrive

This is the England we’ve been waiting for. Southgate’s switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation worked and got their best players on the ball in more dangerous areas. Saka was a constant threat, scored a beauty and never stopped running. Foden and Bellingham could impact the game more as they played more narrow as 10s. England controlled the game better and Mainoo and Rice are becoming quite the partnership in midfield. Eze and Palmer were great off the bench and Luke Shaw was also great when he came on. It wasn’t perfect and Switzerland took the lead a little fortuitously and had some big chances in the second half of extra time but overall this was England’s best performance of EURO 2024. They are trending in the right direction and are the favorites to advance to a second-straight final. It has been far from perfect for the Three Lions in Germany but they’re in the final four, have star quality galore and they’ve now found a formation and style of play which suits their best players individually and as a collective. Now the key thing: can they build on this and get even better? They’re going to have to if they want to win it all but this win, even on penalty kicks, was a huge step forward.

England vs Switzerland player ratings

Via our friends at FotMob.com you can see Saka had a wild game as he scored a beauty, played in several different positions, scored a penalty kick and did some incredible defensive work for England. Declan Rice and Kyle Walker dug deep defensively, while Granit Xhaka did so well to hold Switzerland together and help them regain momentum at different stages. As for the subs, Eze and Shaw looked great when they came on and Shaqiri almost won it in extra time.

What’s next?

England will now face either the Netherlands or Turkiye in the semifinals on Wednesday, July 10 in Dortmund at 3pm ET.

How to watch England vs Switzerland, stream link and start time

Kick off: 12pm ET, Saturday (July 6)
Stadium: Dusseldorf Arena
How to watch on TV, stream in USA: Fox Sports

England vs Switzerland final score: 1-1 (5-3 on PKs)

Saka 80'; Embolo 75'

England vs Switzerland live updates! - By Joe Prince-Wright

Penalty kicks - England win 5-3

Cole Palmer scores for England. So calm.
Jordan Pickford saves Manuel Akanji’s awful penalty kick. England lead 1-0.
Jude Bellingham slots home and sends Sommer the wrong way. England 2-0.
Fabian Schar slots home calmly. England 2-1.
Bukayo Saka slots home after a long wait. England 3-1.
Shaqiri with a fine penalty kick. He hammers it past Pickford who guessed right. England 3-2.
Ivan Toney calmly slots home. England lead 4-2.
Amdouni slots it straight down the middle for Switzerland. England lead 4-3.
Trent Alexander-Arnold hammers home to send England to the semis! England win 5-3.

Full time: England 1-1 Switzerland... it is penalties!

It is going to penalty kicks.

Pickford denies Amdouni and Widmer fires over

Switzerland are finishing strong. Amdouni’s shot is denied by Pickford and then Widmer volleys over at the back post. England look to have lost their shape with all of those changes.

Shaqiri hits the crossbar from a corner

Xherdan Shaqiri whips in a vicious corner which hits the corner of the post and bar. He went for it. Pickford is laughing after that but I’m not sure he had it covered. So cheeky from Shaqiri.

Two big subs with Kane and Embolo off

Ivan Toney is on for Kane, who was running on empty for a while. Embolo is off for Switzerland and Mr. Tournament Shaqiri is on. Both Toney and Shaqiri will be taking penalties, which is looking very likely.

Half time in extra time: England 1-1 Switzerland

England look the more likely to grab a winner but it has gone a little flat again. Have either side got one more push in them?

Bellingham’s shot saved

A mistake from Switzerland lets in Saka and his cross eventually finds Bellingham. He has a shot which is blocked, then the rebound is saved by Sommer.

Sommer saves Rice’s superb long-range shot

We are off in extra time and England are on top. What a shot from Delcan Rice who curls a beauty from distance towards the bottom corner. Great stop from Sommer.

Full time: England 1-1 Switzerland... and we are heading to extra time

What a strange game. England were on top in the first half. Switzerland were then on top and scored to make it 1-0. That woke England up and they dominated the final 15 and equalized. The Three Lions look so much now they are going for it.

England are buzzing now but a big chance for Switzerland

It looks like only one team will win it now and that is England. They are flowing and full of confidence. Amazing what a goal can do, right? But hang on, Schar whips in a brilliant cross to the back post and Embolo gets in front of Zuber just before he’s about to head home.

Saka scores a beauty and England are level! - England 1-1 Switzerland (80th minute)

What a goal from Saka! He cuts inside and curls a beauty into the far bottom corner off the post. England’s fans go wild. Gareth Southgate’s side weren’t behind for long. Shaw, Palmer and Eze came on just before that. England have a spring in their step now.

Embolo pops up at the back post to put Switzerland ahead - England 0-1 Switzerland (75th minute)

A cross to the back post takes a flick off John Stones and goes straight to Embolo who taps home. Switzerland ahead and they deserve that based on their second half display.

Switzerland are on top now

It is Switzerland who are controlling the game now. Their fans are making quite the racket behind the goal and their team are responding. England can’t get out of their own half.

Konsa is doing a fine job on Embolo

A cross comes in and Embolo is trying to get away from Konsa and get a header on goal. He does but it’s a weak one because Konsa is doing a fine job on him.

Embolo turns but his shot is straight at Pickford

Tame start to the second half as Embolo turns in the box but Konsa is marshalling him well. Embolo’s weak effort is straight at Pickford.

Half time: England 0-0 Switzerland

No stoppage time at the end of a pretty tense first half but England shaded that. Saka, Foden and Bellingham playing with much more freedom for England and they have limited Switzerland to very little.

What a tackle by Xhaka

Saka does superbly and beats Aebischer again and just as Mainoo is about to shoot from six yards, Xhaka arrives to clear. Brilliant defending.

Brilliant from Saka again

England’s main threat continues to be Bukayo Saka. He keeps squirming away from tackles and cuts the ball back but Switzerland clear.

Saka whips in a dangerous cross; Kane heads corner over

Good play from England as Foden dinks it over the top to find Saka and he brings it down beautifully and whips in a dangerous cross that Kane can’t get close enough to. From the resulting corner Kane heads well over. Bit of a chess match so far.

Everyone is still trying to work out England’s formation

Trippier is high on the left playing as a left winger, not as a right wing-back as we thought. Back in the action, the ball is rolled back to Mainoo and his goalbound shot is blocked. Very even in the opening 15 minutes.

England lineup

Pickford; Walker, Stones, Konsa; Trippier, Mainoo, Rice, Saka; Bellingham, Foden; Kane

Switzerland lineup

Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Rieder, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer; Ndoye, Vargas; Embolo

England team news, focus

Marc Guehi is suspended for yellow card accumulation so Southgate will be forced into a change at center back and Ezri Konsa looks like the next player up. That said, there is a real argument for England to go with three at the back. Walker, Stones and Konsa at center back with Alexander-Arnold at right wing-back and Saka or Trippier at left wing-back could work well. Bellingham and Foden in more central roles behind Kane could work in a 3-4-2-1 and that change in formation would see England go head-to-head with Switzerland’s formation. At this point, Southgate has to change something drastically to alter the performance levels.

Switzerland team news, focus

The Swiss team had an injury concern over captain and talisman Granit Xhaka. He had a scan on an adductor injury ahead of this game but it seems like he will be fine. That is a huge for Switzerland, as Xhaka is the heartbeat of their team. Aside from that, Switzerland will likely lineup exactly as they did against Italy. They will have Duah to come off the bench and he has looked very dangerous, while veteran Xherdan Shaqiri surely has a big goal left in him. The main strength of this Swiss team is that they’ve been full of energy and relentless as they press in packs and are dangerous on the break.

England vs Switzerland prediction

This is going to be a very tough game for England, but it feels like the manner of their win against Slovakia will do them the world of good. Expect Kane and a few other stars to shine, finally, and the Three Lions to win a tight one. Switzerland will create plenty of chances, but are they clinical enough? That is the big question. England 2-1 Switzerland.