The International Football Association Board (IFAB) officially adopted the penalty shootout as a method of determining the winner of a knockout match if the teams are tied after extra time in 1970. Previously, stalemates were resolved by replays or, as a last resort, by drawing lots. The first major international tournament to be decided by penalty shootout was the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) European Football Championship, which, on June 20, 1976 was won 5-3 on penalties by Czechoslovakia, who had finished tied 2-2 with Germany after extra time.
All told, the England national football has been involved in ten penalty shootouts in major tournaments, but won just three of them. Perhaps the Three Lions’ most famous penalty shootout defeat was their first, at the hands of West Germany in the semi-final of 1990 FIFA World Cup at Stadio delle Alpi in Turin on July 3, 1990. Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley and David Platt all successfully converted their spot-kicks, but Stuart Pearce struck his shot straight at goalkeeper Bodo Illgner and Chris Waddle blazed his over the crossbar to send West Germany to their third consecutive FIFA World Cup final.
Six years later, at the UEFA European Football Championship, won a penalty shootout, 4-2, following a goalless draw with Spain, after extra time, in the quarter-final at Wembley Stadium on June 22, 1996. However, they once again succumbed to Germany, 6-5 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in the semi-final four days later, with Gareth Southgate the guilty party.
Thereafter, England would not win another penalty shootout until July 3, 2018, by which time Southgate had been manager of the national team for 18 months or so. On that occasion, England won 4-3 in a shoout against Colombia in a last-16 match at Otkritie Bank Arena in Moscow during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. They won another, 6-5, against Switzerland in the third place playoff at the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, but lost their most recent, 3-2, to Italy in the final of the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship.