Trent Alexander-Arnold’s penalty in England’s penalty shootout victory against Switzerland is one of the hardest shots of the 2024 European Championship.
After reaching the quarter-finals with a dramatic win over Slovakia, the Three Lions faced their toughest challenge of the tournament so far on Saturday when they faced Switzerland.
Breel Embolo broke the deadlock and gave the Swiss the lead deep into the second half before Bukayo Saka equalised with a curling shot a few minutes later.
Once again, Gareth Southgate’s team had to go into extra time, and with penalties looming, the English manager brought on both Ivan Toney and Alexander-Arnold.
Despite their mixed record in penalty shoot-outs, England made no mistakes from 12 metres: Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Saka and Toney converted their penalties and Jordan Pickford saved a shot from Manuel Akanji.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s decisive penalty in England’s victory over Switzerland is one of the hardest shots of the 2024 European Championship so far
The Liverpool star’s shot reached a top speed of 125.6 km/h (78 mph) before entering the net.
Thanks to the technology integrated into the Adidas match ball, the penalty was the second hardest shot of the tournament so far.
As the fifth player to go, the Liverpool star had the chance to lead England into their third major semi-final under Southgate’s tenure.
Seemingly unfazed by the pressure of having the hopes of an entire nation on his shoulders, Alexander-Arnold hammered his shot low to the goalkeeper’s right, securing victory for England and breaking a tournament record in the process.
The shot was measured using Adidas technology integrated into the Football Love match ball and reached a top speed of 125.6 km/h (78 mph) before finding its way into the net, making it the toughest penalty of the tournament so far.
The only shot from open play that was rated higher than the decisive penalty was the thunderbolt taken by Slovenian captain Erik Janza in the 1-1 draw with Denmark in their opening Group C match, which reached 128.76 km/h.
Third place in the tournament so far goes to Razvan Marin’s goal in Romania’s 3-0 win over Ukraine, which was scored at a speed of 125.15 km/h (77.7 miles per hour).
Only Erik Janza’s thunderbolt in Slovenia’s draw with Denmark was faster
Goals from Cody Gakpo and Nuno Mendes complete the top five, with the latter scoring his second penalty in Portugal’s penalty shootout loss to France on Friday.
However, Alexander-Arnold’s goal was not the only goal by an English player in the top ten.
Saka’s decisive equaliser at the Düsseldorf Arena was the ninth, at a speed of 116.21 km/h (72.2 mph).
