England defeated Switzerland on penalties (5-3) after a 1-1 stalemate to book a place in the Euro semifinals on Saturday. A Xherdan Shaqiri Olimpico effort nearly sunk England in extra time.
While Saturday’s result will be remembered for England’s brilliance from the penalty spot, we wanted to highlight how close Shaqiri was to scoring the goal of the tournament and arguably the goal of his career.
Late in extra time the Swiss looked like the likelier side to find a winner. In the 117th minute the Chicago Fire star tried the most audacious effort straight from the corner kick.
He was so close to one of the greatest goals in Swiss history.
Shaqiri Olimpico vs England
WOW
SHAQIRI NEARLY HIT THIS FROM THE CORNER pic.twitter.com/5nPCRvkW4C— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 6, 2024
SO CLOSE from Shaqiri pic.twitter.com/HPTMci3ZK1
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 6, 2024
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was completely beat and had his goal frame to thank. Pickford shot Shaqiri a wry and likely nervous smile after the effort.
What could’ve been. Shaqiri has made a name for himself showing up on the international stage. The 32-year-old has scored at Euro 2024, the 2022 World Cup, Euro 2020, the 2018 World Cup, Euro 2016 and the 2014 World Cup.
He’s always been the man for the big moment and so nearly had another trademark moment. Shaqiri already has a chance to win goal of the tournament for Euro 2024 with his screamer against Scotland in the group stage.
That goal made history with Shaqiri being the first player from Major League Soccer to score at the Euros.
Switzerland had dreams of making it to the semifinals after Breel Embolo netted the game’s first goal in the 75th minute.
BREEL EMBOLO PUTS SWITZERLAND ON TOP pic.twitter.com/ADEWGuLyuo
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 6, 2024
England had looked sluggish so far in the quarterfinal and needed something special to equalize. Enter Bukayo Saka.
SAKA LEVELS THE SCORE FOR ENGLAND pic.twitter.com/A8zEktE81n
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 6, 2024
In the shootout the English players shook off their dreaded history from the spot and went a perfect five-for-five to sink the Swiss.
England went a perfect 5 for 5 in penalties to book its spot in the EURO 2024 Semifinals ✅✅✅✅✅
Watch every penalty from the shootout ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/OswNEWg3cA— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 6, 2024
