England's quest for a first major tournament win in 58 years remained alive after another late fightback before beating Switzerland 5-3 on penalties to book their place in the Euro 2024 semi-finals on Saturday.
After the 120 minutes finished level at 1-1, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was the Three Lions' hero in the shoot-out as he saved Switzerland's first spot-kick from Manuel Akanji.
Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold scored their penalties to send England into a semi-final meeting with the Netherlands in Dortmund on Wednesday.
After needing Bellingham's 95th-minute equaliser before going on to beat Slovakia in extra time in the last 16, England were again staring at defeat with 10 minutes to go.
A dreary encounter for the first 75 minutes came to life after Breel Embolo put Switzerland in front. Saka's fine strike from outside the box levelled with England's first shot on target five minutes later.
Manchester City defender Akanji was then the unfortunate penalty villain as Switzerland's horrible record in major tournament quarter-finals goes on. They have now lost five without ever reaching a semi-final.
“I thought we played well all night,” said Soutgate. “We had to be good off the ball and defend with real discipline. We had to change to get higher up the pitch. With Bukayo, we knew we had an advantage in that part of the pitch and we kept plugging away. It's not just about playing well. Sometimes you have to find ways to win, like Spain last night. I'm so, so proud of them.
“Our intention is to play with the ball, but you have opponents trying to stop you. Our team has been under enormous pressure from the start and they did so well. At the moment we aren't able to score lots but the last three games we've played against five at the back. We're through to our third semi-final in four attempts but that's not where we want it to end.”
Switzerland, who have never reached the semi-finals of a major tournament, exit the European Championship on penalties in the last-eight for the second time running, after defeat to Spain three years ago.
“It hurts,” said Switzerland coach Murat Yakin. “We put so much effort in, created so many chances. I'm sad for the lads, and for the nation. England didn't have many chances and we created quite a few of our own. We don't deserve to be going home but we can be really proud.
“don't need to hide any more. We were eliminated because it wasn't quite enough today. A penalty shoot-out is a matter of luck and we didn't have it. We have caused the big teams a lot of problems so we exit with our heads held high.”
