England's top five penalty takers for the World Cup – and one player who shouldn't shoot

It's that time again. England are through to the knockout stages of the World Cup, and now the threat of penalties looms over every nail-biting match. England's relationship with shootouts has long been a painful one. They were knocked out by West Germany on heartbreaking penalties in 1990, and then suffered defeats to Argentina (1998) and Portugal (2006) in similar fashion. The losing streak was finally broken in 2018 when Gareth Southgate's careful preparation paid off with England's first win in a World Cup shootout, against Colombia in the round of 16. England have since won two shootouts against Switzerland, in 2019 and 2024, between that painful Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy. About a third of World Cup knockout matches go to extra time, and about a quarter end in penalties. Thomas Tuchel has said he believes if England want to go far and win the World Cup in North America, they will probably need to win two penalty shootouts along the way. Tuchel promised to continue Southgate's line. "I have - at the highest level, for years and years - a penalty program that is so simple that I can just wait for people to tell me who the best shooters are. We have trained it. We have a process in place. So we are prepared. This has become such an important part, a very special part of football now, that you can prepare and do the best you can to be prepared, which we have done. We have assistant coaches, we have background staff that has put in place one of the best programs I have ever seen. So we know exactly what is going to happen. And the platform is there." But who are England's best penalty takers, and who will step up when the moment comes?

Harry Kane 122 taken, 108 scored (89%) The England captain takes the first penalty. He has already scored 19 penalties for Bayern Munich and England this season, including his penalty against Croatia during the group stage after it had to be retaken. Kane varies in his technique, sometimes stuttering in his run-up and waiting for the goalkeeper to move first before putting the ball on the other side, and sometimes just running towards the ball and shooting with power. This variation is an important tool to keep goalkeepers guessing. Kane fired the ball over goal with his penalty against France in the quarter-final in Qatar four years ago to knock out England. But it is remarkable that he did not miss a penalty for almost three years after that. And Kane has never missed in a shootout, in five attempts.

Ivan Toney 62 taken, 58 scored (94%) Both Toney and Tuchel have emphasized that the striker is not only in the England squad to take penalties, which is true, but it is fair to assume that if the Al-Ahli player is not such a master of the art from 12 yards, he would probably be on holiday right now. Toney's record is remarkable and justifies his former manager Thomas Frank's claim that he is the best in the world. His icy technique, where he looks at the goalkeeper before scoring without looking at the ball, is incredibly impressive and few have replicated it with such success. Toney came off the bench to score a penalty in the shootout against Switzerland at Euro 2024, whenEngland scored all five in their most impressive display from the spot. He hasn't played a minute yet at this World Cup, but if England go to a shootout, Tuchel will call on Toney.

Bukayo Saka 16 taken, 14 scored (88%) Saka was memorably cheered on away matches at the start of the 2021/22 season, following the insults he received after England's shootout defeat. He bounced back well to score against Switzerland in the quarter-final shootout at Euro 2024. Saka has only taken two penalties for Arsenal this season but has scored them both, and he has missed just once in the past three years.

Marcus Rashford 20 taken, 18 scored (90%) Rashford was one of three Englishmen to miss the Euro 2020 final, along with Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho, for which they received terrible racist abuse. Southgate later regretted bringing Rashford and Sancho onto the pitch so late in the match, with only seconds left at the end of extra time, not giving them time to get into the rhythm of the game and build up some adrenaline before the stressful shootout began. Rashford's record is quite impressive, albeit from a smaller sample than some of his England teammates, and he has scored his last 14 penalties in a run dating back to 2019. However, he has only taken one penalty this season, for England against Serbia in qualifying. The question with Rashford may simply be whether he is on the pitch. If he starts a knockout match that goes to penalties, there is a good chance that Tuchel will use one of his six substitutions to replace Rashford with…

Anthony Gordon 17 taken, 16 scored (94%) If Rashford isn't on the pitch, then Gordon is, and he will be held responsible for taking a penalty when the moment comes. Gordon takes charge of Newcastle and has a very good record, having scored 12 and missed only one since joining the club. He also scored a penalty in a World Cup warm-up win against Costa Rica when Kane was not on the pitch.

Jude Bellingham 5 taken, 4 scored (80%) Bellingham may not have much experience in penalty taking - he hasn't taken one in 18 months for Real Madrid, with Kylian Mbappe taking responsibility from the spot - but the 22-year-old has repeatedly proven he has the character to step up in England's hour of need. And Bellingham scored the second penalty when England scored five perfect penalties against Switzerland two summers ago.

Declan Rice 3 taken, 1 scored (33%) Rice has very little experience from the spot, and what experience he has has been less than convincing, missing two of his three for West Ham. But he scored convincingly in Arsenal's shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, and is clearly an excellent dead-ball shooter, both from corners and free-kicks. He is also a leader on the pitch for England.

Eberechi Eze 9 taken, 7 scored (78%) Eze is a likely candidate to come on as a substitute in a 120 minute match, so he could also be given responsibility from the spot,although he doesn't have much experience in that department. He missed one of his four penalties for Crystal Palace, and his only penalty for Arsenal, in the Champions League final shootout, was missed.

A player who probably shouldn't shoot is Ollie Watkins. The striker has always been excellent for England; his extra-time goal against the Netherlands in the 2024 European Championship semi-final will live long in the memories of supporters. But Watkins' penalty record is 13 taken, 6 scored, 7 missed, including misses in his last two for Aston Villa last year. Other candidates include Elliot Anderson and Reece James – when he is fit to play – both of whom have scored their only career penalties and have a history of scoring in shootouts. And if the shootout goes deep into sudden death, at least England know they can count on Jordan Pickford, with his hands and feet... England's likely five penalty takers: Kane, Toney, Saka, Rashford/Gordon, Bellingham.