England have seen the Netherlands and Germany eliminated from the World Cup on penalties in the Round of 32, but manager Declan Rice insists the Three Lions are second to none when it comes to spot-kicks.
Declan Rice believes England will get a decent result if it goes to penalties (Image: 2026 Allstar)
Declan Rice claims England have the best penalty takers at the World Cup.
England midfielder Rice scored in the penalty shoot-out in the Champions League final and was willing to volunteer even if Arsenal lost. Rice also believes Ivan Toney, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon will give him a huge advantage if any of the knockout ties go to penalties.
Gunners star Rice said: “Looking at this group right now, I think England probably don’t have a better penalty taker. To be honest, you look at Harry, you look at Ivan, you look at Marcus, you look at Anthony Gordon, you look at Saka, I would take a penalty taker, Jude.”
“We have really strong players. As the tournament goes on, you’ll obviously hear the statistics that you have to win a penalty shootout to get to the final or win the tournament, and we know that might happen along the way. So we’re going to be fully prepared for that.”
“For Harry, it was an incredible cycle, from before the game started to the day before he found out if he was going to get a penalty the next day, there was never any doubt in his mind where he was going.
“And I think that’s the case with a lot of players. They watch and study the keeper, but they really believe in their process and their technique and they score.”
“Especially with these balls, if you hit the ball hard and well from 12 yards, you feel like a keeper. It’s hard to save, right? Once you get the ball in the corner, it’s really hard to save, so yeah, it’s about having a process and having a strong feeling.”
Rice also said he gained belief from the field, even after Arsenal’s heartbreaking loss to Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest. He added: “I was never the strongest penalty taker, but as time goes on, I feel like I’ve never won a penalty as confidently as I did in the Champions League final. I don’t know what it was, but I had my process and I knew where it was going.”
“I studied the keeper and where he expected me to be because my last few pens were on the other side. It was all about the head games going on. But I was really calm. I’ve never been nervous before with penalties; I’ve been in penalties before.”
“We played against Palace at the beginning of the season. I was very nervous to take the pen. I scored a goal. But I wasn’t as nervous as I was in the final.”
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