Ranking England’s 22 knockout matches since 1998 from worst to best | OneFootball

England have had a turbulent few decades in major tournaments to say the least. From European Championship finals to being knocked out of the World Cup at the first hurdle.

As a nation, England have become accustomed to major tournament heartache, but in recent years there have been plenty of positive results to shout about.

We’ve rounded up all of England’s knockout results since 1998 and ranked them from worst to best.

22. England 1-2 Iceland (Euro 2016)

The less said about this one the better.

21. England 1-4 Germany (World Cup 2010)

We’ll never know if this game would have turned out any differently had Frank Lampard’s ghost goal stood. Ultimately Germany absolutely wiped the floor with England in South Africa.

Thomas Muller and Lukas Podolski will still be giving David James nightmares to this day. The entire tournament hadn’t been great from England’s point of view and they went out with a whimper.

20. England 0-0 Italy (Euro 2012)

Euro 2012 wasn’t a particular high point for English football. Roy Hodgson took charge of his first major tournament which ultimately ended in penalty heartache.

The performance was pretty naff and let’s not forget Andrea Pirlo humiliating Joe Hart with a panenka.

19. England 0-0 Portugal (World Cup 2006)

A game which will forever be infamous for the Cristiano Ronaldo wink.

England and penalty heartache goes hand in hand, but the fact that they missed three out of the four penalties really takes the biscuit.

18. England 1-2 Spain (Euro 2024)

Some observers thought England were unlucky to lose the Euro 2024 final.

More level-headed analysts saw that Spain were the better team and the age-old problem of technique under pressure came back to haunt the Three Lions in Berlin.

17. England 1-2 Croatia (World Cup 2018)

The entire nation collectively lost their minds when Kieran Trippier put England 1-0 ahead in a World Cup semi-final. Gareth Southgate’s side had a fairly kind run in 2018, but Croatia proved to be a stern test.

Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic completed a dramatic comeback and this one still feels like a missed opportunity.

16. England 1-2 Brazil (World Cup 2002)

If only David Seaman had stayed on his line.

15. England 2-1 Slovakia (Euro 2024)

Not only was Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick one of those moments, it also saved England from humiliation after a dire last 16 performance.

Slovakia were disregarded before the match, but kept Gareth Southgate’s team at bay with relative ease until Bellingham’s late intervention.

Harry Kane scored the winner soon into extra-time and everyone agreed never to talk about the performance again.

14. England 1-1 Switzerland (Euro 2024)

After being reprimanded for being overly critical in the group stages, Gary Lineker and his BBC chums were full of positivity about this display.

We can only assume Lineker’s feed to the quarter-final in Dusseldorf was severed before kick-off as England huffed and puffed for 120 minutes.

Bukayo Saka’s equaliser was a high point, as was five well-taken penalties. Another game that’s been whitewashed from history.

13. England 1-0 Ecuador (World Cup 2006)

A tepid game in sticky conditions won by a David Beckham hoof free-kick. Mainly notable for Michael Carrick playing in the anchor role for the first and only time in a major tournament match.

12. England 1-1 Italy (Euro 2020)

Everything seemed destined for England to win a trophy in 2020. After the process made by Southgate’s side in 2018 and the fact that the final was held at Wembley itself.

Luke Shaw made an entire nation dream when he put England 1-0 up inside two minutes. We’ve whitewashed the rest from our memory. It’s still too soon.

11. England 1-2 France (World Cup 2022)

Unlike other tournament exits, England played genuinely well against France in 2022 and lost on fine margins.

Namely, Harry Maguire losing Olivier Giroud for the winner and Harry Kane blasting his penalty into the Gulf.

A semi-final against Morocco was winnable, although attempting to stop Lionel Messi and Argentina would’ve been a stretch.

10. England 2-2 Portugal (Euro 2004)

With a place in the semi-finals up for grabs, the stakes were huge when England met Portugal in Euro 2004. The game had a little bit of everything too from crunching tackles to disallowed goals.

Wayne Rooney being forced off with an injury hampered England’s chances as penalty heartache was in store for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side.

9. England 2-1 Netherlands (Euro 2024)

The best England performance in 2024, although that bar was set at ankle height at best.

A closely-fought semi with the Dutch looked destined for extra-time until Ollie Watkins spun and fired home a brilliant late winner.

Watkins’ celebration was authentically and disbelievingly joyful, not stage-managed to within an inch of its Instagram shelf-life. Wonderful stuff.

8. England 2-2 Argentina (World Cup 1998)

Michael Owen scored England’s best-ever World Cup goal against Argentina with a sublime run from the halfway line. The hype around Owen at the time was immense for a teenager.

The game itself was a cracker, but ultimately has penalty heartache attached to it.

7. England 2 Sweden 0 – World Cup 2018

The entire nation felt as if England were on the cusp of something in 2018 and a disconcertingly routine 2-0 win over Sweden made everyone stop and dream.

Harry Maguire and Dele Alli scored the goals in this quarter-final in Russia. Back home, people started climbing on bus shelters and unironically belting out Atomic Kitten.

6. England 4-0 Ukraine (Euro 2020)

England made light work of a tired Ukraine in the quarter-finals as Southgate’s side recorded a empthatic victory.

Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and Maguire were all on target for England in Rome. For so long a roadblock, the quarter-finals were starting to become routine.

5. England 3-0 Denmark (World Cup 2002)

After surviving a Group of Death with Argentina, Sweden and Nigeria, a thumping 3-0 win over Denmark saw genuine belief sweep the nation.

It’s just a shame that Brazil stood in England’s way next. Looking back, an XI with Danny Mills, Trevor Sinclair and Emile Heskey did the best they could.

4. England 3-0 Senegal (World Cup 2022)

England’s prolific 3-0 victory over AFCON champions Senegal was a statement of intent.

The game did have its nervy points in the first half, but eventually England showcased their class. And Jude Bellingham stole the show by running the game from midfield.

3. England 2-1 Denmark (Euro 2020)

England deservedly won this Euro 2020 semi-final, although in controversial circumstances.

With the game 1-1 in extra-time, Raheem Sterling took a conveniently-timed tumble in the penalty area.

Harry Kane missed the initial effort, but scored the rebound and England made their first major final in 51 years.

2. England 1-1 Colombia (World Cup 2018)

Having been on the receiving end of plenty of penalty shootout failures, it was nice to know the feeling of winning one.

England thought they had this one in the bag until Colombia’s Yerry Mina popped up with a 94th-minute equaliser to send it to extra time and then a penalty shootout.

Eric Dier struck the winning penalty and throwing pints at Boxpark was (for once) justified.

1. England 2-0 Germany (Euro 2020)

This has to go down as England’s finest knockout result since 1998. Taking into consideration the narrative surrounding this game, the level of opposition and what was actually on the line and it’s a clear winner.

Germany had haunted England in plenty of previous tournaments, but they managed to get their revenge in the sweetest way possible.

The fact that this one was at Wembley just puts the cherry on top. Sterling and Kane got the goals and the nation had its first post-COVID boost.