Jordan Pickford celebrates after England beat Spain 3-2 in Seville
Jordan Pickford celebrates after England beat Spain 3-2 in Seville
The Three Lions keeper revisits some of his favourite fixtures
From being the hero in penalty shootouts to helping England to starring in some of the great World Cup games, Jordan Pickford has experienced it all.
Here, he talks through five of his most memorable matches for the Three Lions.
England 0-0 Germany, November 2017
One of five players to make their senior bow at Wembley – and one of three named in the starting line-up – Pickford was handed his debut by Gareth Southgate nine years ago and kept a clean sheet to mark his first appearance.
“My debut was unreal,” said Pickford. “Probably one of the only times I’ve felt nervous going into a game. I’d worked towards that lifelong dream and finally making it was incredible.
“Making two saves early on – I know it was a friendly but against Germany – it was a great experience. It was a great start. All we were missing was the win.
“I got told two or three days before the game – normally you don’t get told until the day before that you’re playing, what the team is. It was nice to get told early enough so my family could organise coming down.”
Colombia 1-1 England (3-4 penalties), July 2018
The stopper played his part in England’s World Cup first shootout success as the Three Lions reached the quarter-final of 2018 edition. It all came down to penalties after Colombia netted a late equaliser and Pickford made a big save in the shootout as Southgate’s side progressed.
“It was one of those games where you had to be there,” he recalled. “I remember the penalty and the players – Yerry Mina, I played at Everton with.
“The penalty shootout speaks for itself – me making the save against Carlos Bacca and Eric finishing the game off with the winning pen. It was a mad version of events. The emotion high – it was like, ‘I need to calm down because Eric needs to execute his pen’ which he did.
“To be the first England team to win a penalty shootout in so many years, it was special and it gave us that belief because it was the first knockout game. We knew how big it was. I thought that was our time that we were going to go and kick on.”
Jordan Pickford saves a penalty against Colombia at the 2018 World Cup
Jordan Pickford saves a penalty against Colombia at the 2018 World Cup
Jordan Pickford celebrates after beating Mexico at the 2026 World Cup
Jordan Pickford celebrates after beating Mexico at the 2026 World Cup