Phil Foden says he ‘wouldn’t have minded’ taking a penalty in the Euro 2024 shootout against Switzerland but admits there are ‘better penalty-takers’ in the England squad.

England booked their place in the Euro 2024 semi-finals with a tense penalty shootout victory over Switzerland on Saturday after the quarter-final clash in Dusseldorf finished 1-1.

Gareth Southgate’s side have struggled to hit top gear at the Euros but were faultless in the shootout, with Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all emphatically converting from the spot and Jordan Pickford keeping out Manuel Akanji to send England through.

Shortly after England reached the semi-final of yet another major tournament, Alexander-Arnold was spotted telling two friends that one member of the Three Lions squad didn’t want to step up.

00:00

00:00

Read More

While the Liverpool star gave no indication of who that player was, social media was rife with speculation and some reasoned it could have been Foden because he was subbed off for Alexander-Arnold deep into extra-time.

But Foden, who scored a penalty against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in April, insists he would have stepped up if he was needed.

‘I would have taken one if I was still on the pitch but I think there’s players who take them regularly for their clubs so it makes sense for them to take them,’ he told talkSPORT.

‘I think that’s what Gareth did, put the best penalty-takers on the pitch. I’m glad he did that now because it definitely worked in our favour.

I feel like it’s a confidence thing, if you belief you’re going to score you can definitely be a penalty-taker.

‘Like I said, I wouldn’t have minded taking one if I was still on the pitch but there’s probably better penalty-takers than me.’

Asked how he felt during the penalty shootout, Premier League player of the year Foden added: ‘I’m not going to lie, I was so nervous watching the boys.

Toney spot kick helps England progress to Euro 2024 semi-finals

Video Player is loading.

Play Video

Loaded: 0%

0:00

Play

Mute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration -:-

Fullscreen

UP NEXT

0:40

Lamine Yamal films naked team-mates to half a million fans on Instagram live

1:31

Top WWE superstar ‘couldn’t breathe’ but wrestled almost 10 minutes after horror injury

0:56

Klopp’s conditions for returning to management and what that means for England

2:45

Olympic gymnastics team captain sent home after being caught drinking and smoking

1:01

WWE’s Ludwig Kaiser excited to ‘make history’ at Bash In Berlin

1:38

Princess Kate joined by Charlotte for rare appearance at Wimbledon

3:15

Chaos in Miami as ticketless Copa America fans climb through stadium air vents

2:01

Carlos Alcaraz brutally downs Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon final | Day 14 highlights

2:49

‘To lose in that way is really cruel’ says Bellingham after Euros defeat

2:17

Who are the contenders to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager?

1:48

Ross Kemp can’t control his emotions after England’s late turnaround against Slovakia

1:45

Harry Kane and team back on home turf after Spain’s Euros 2024 triumph

‘When you’re not on the pitch, I feel like you think a lot more about what’s happening.

‘But I had full belief in the lads, there’s been a lot of work going into penalties in training. The ones taking them looked so confident and never looked like missing.’

The Netherlands now stand in England’s way of back-to-back European Championship finals, after the Three Lions lost to Italy in the last showpiece event in 2021.

Ronald Koeman’s side struggled in the group stage – finishing third in Group D – but have improved in the knockouts, beating Romania and Turkey to set up an intriguing semi-final meeting with Southgate’s side.

Revealing his prediction for the semi-final clash in Dortmund, ex-Premier League striker Chris Sutton told BBC Sport: ‘So, how do you call this?

‘I don’t think anything is going to drastically change in the way England play – they are not going to suddenly find some amazing patterns of play that break the Netherlands down.

‘Instead, if England are going to reach their second successive Euros final, they are going to have to rely on individual brilliance again.

‘I have not just been blindly backing them to get through each knockout round in Germany but they are definitely on the more gentle side of the draw.

‘This is their toughest game yet, and it is going to be very close, but I do think England will edge it… somehow.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

MORE : Manchester United and Arsenal handed transfer boost as Euro 2024 star rejects new contract

MORE : Rio Ferdinand dismisses claim Manchester United have a better defender than Arsenal star William Saliba

MORE : Ian Wright ‘worried’ about England star ahead of Euro 2024 semi-final against Netherlands