Jordan Pickford is our penalty shoot-out king – but the art of the spot-kick is changing. An expert reveals the tricks England’s No 1 must employ to stay ahead of the taker, who the best penalty-savers are at this World Cup and why Ivan Toney is key

England and penalties are historically two words which do not marry up well together. Not until Jordan Pickford came along, anyway.

The long-time Three Lions No 1, now the main man for a fifth straight major tournament, has raised the heart-rate of some fans during this World Cup with some slightly erratic and anxiety-inducing moments – he should have stopped Congo from scoring at his near post and could have been sent off against Ghana for example – but is there anyone better if they go to a dreaded shoot-out?

Pickford has saved four of 14 major tournament shoot-out spot-kicks he has faced, with memorable stops against Carlos Bacca of Colombia in 2018 and Switzerland’s Manuel Akanji at Euro 2024. 

He might also claim another one indirectly when Colombia’s Mateus Uribe rattled the crossbar on that famous night in Moscow eight years ago, as Pickford’s facial expressions and movements were surely a distraction.

So is Pickford, now 32, still the shoot-out king for Thomas Tuchel – and what do the experts say the Everton man can do to get the upper hand if England need to triumph on penalties to advance over the next fortnight?

Pickford was lucky not to be sent off for his clash with Ghana’s Prince Kwabena Adu during the World Cup group match that finished 0-0

Geir Jordet is the expert on penalties having written a book, Pressure: Lessons From The Psychology Of The Penalty Shoot Out, which is an intriguing deep dive into how to score – and just as importantly how to save – spot-kicks.

Players such as Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski and Martin Odegaard talk in the book and praise Jordet’s research, while former Manchester United and Netherlands No 1 Edwin van der Sar said his trophy cabinet would be bigger if the work had been published two decades earlier.

Speaking to Daily Mail Sport, Jordet reckons there are two main things goalkeepers can work on to get the advantage in a situation where, according to expected goals (xG), the attacker has a 78 per cent chance of scoring.

Asked how keepers can improve their chances in a situation that seems to be even more weighted in the attackers’ favour due to new techniques such as stuttered run-ups and ever-stricter enforcement of the leaving the line rule, Jordet says: ‘Cool question, we could probably talk for hours!

‘No 1 is psychological,’ he says. ‘Taking control. Exaggeration or orchestrating a type of manipulation with respect to distracting and delaying the penalty-taker. Basically, gain the initiative and control through exaggeration. We see some of the notorious penalty-stoppers do this, such as Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez.

‘He is full of manipulation, confrontation and insults… they all become very effective in this situation. It is so effective, it is very clever. He can start a shoot-out with him seeming like a nice guy. That is a way to get people to lower their guard, above all the referee.

England goalkeepers have saved seven penalties in major tournaments – Jordan Pickford is responsible for five of those 

Pickford is mobbed after England win a shoot-out against Switzerland at the 2024 Euros 

‘Then he slowly escalates… disrupting, taking the ball, talking to the penalty-taker, directly confronting the taker. At the end of the shoot-out he gets a yellow card. But he does it in a deliberately slow and subtle way. It’s so effective. It is a very sophisticated kind of social manipulation technique. 

‘No 2 is technical. Penalty-takers use this stuttered run-up technique. They look at the goalkeeper, wait for them to move and then pass it into the other side of the goal.

‘That has been extremely effective for about a decade. If you could master that technique you had a good time… Robert Lewandowski, Bruno Fernandes, Raul Jimenez, Harry Kane even Ivan Toney. And it is still effective, the best still do it.

‘But now we are seeing the goalkeepers come up with counter-measures. We have seen it a couple of times in the World Cup. Look at Dominik Livakovic against Kane in England’s win over Croatia when the save did not count as he was off his line too early.

‘At the exact moment just before Kane took his shot, Livakovic took a step to one side. It convinced Kane he was about to dive to that side. But then the keeper changed his direction at the very last second. That is the goalkeeper taking initiative by faking and misleading Kane in the wrong direction. 

‘We saw it also with my countryman, painfully! Norway’s Jorgen Strand Larsen took a penalty in the group match and France’s keeper Mike Maignan did it. The goalkeepers are starting to trick penalty-takers.

The Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic tricked England’s Harry Kane and saved his penalty in the group match. However, he had just left in line and the kick was ordered to be retaken

‘The best goalkeeper at this is Yassine Bounou of Morocco. He does the same type of technique but it is a double-fake,’ says penalty expert Geir Jordet

‘The best at this is Yassine Bounou of Morocco. He does the same type of technique but it is a double-fake. He makes a move to the left so early that the penalty-taker clearly sees it so he thinks he is trying to fake him. He changes it back, then actually goes left after all.

‘He did this against Ivan Toney in the Saudi Arabian league a few weeks back. He easily saved Toney’s kick. The next penalty kick Toney took, he changed his technique all together and he missed! These things fascinate me.’

It can be assumed Pickford has been chatting, practising and swapping notes with Toney, who is famously the best penalty-taker in the England squad.

Because now is the time for Pickford to put his minor World Cup wobbles to bed, and be ready if called upon to become England’s penalty-stopping hero once again.