Eze ready for England penalty duty despite Champions League final miss

Eberechi Eze insisted he would still take a penalty for England if called upon despite his shootout heartache in Arsenal's Champions League final defeat.

Eze, along with Gabriel Magalhaes, both missed their spot-kicks during their dramatic 4-3 defeat on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain following a 1-1 draw in normal time.

The 27-year-old dragged his effort wide, with Arsenal becoming the only team to miss the goalframe from 12 yards out twice in a Champions League final penalty shootout.

England have had recent success in their own penalty shootouts, beating Switzerland 5-3 in the quarter-finals of the European Championships in 2024, and Eze, playing in his second major tournament with the Three Lions, said he would step up if needed.

Asked if he would step forward during a shootout, he replied: "If called upon, for sure. Why wouldn't I take it?

"Football is full of everything, and you have to try to accept everything as it is, to enjoy it as much as you can.

"Playing in a Champions League final is where I want to be, it's what I want to do.

"We'll go for it again next season and if there is a penalty to take, then I'll be there again."

Despite falling short of Champions League glory, Eze helped Arsenal end their 22-year wait for the Premier League title in his debut season at the Emirates in 2025-26.

He registered 15 goal contributions (10 goals, five assists) in 52 appearances across all competitions, the fifth-highest tally within Mikel Arteta's ranks.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Marc Guehi are just some of the players within Thomas Tuchel's 26-man squad that won silverware last season, and Eze believes that will be beneficial for England's World Cup campaign.

"I think it's important for a player's confidence to have that under your belt, to experience winning, achieving what you set out to achieve," Eze added.

"It gives you a different level of confidence and a lot of players experiencing that is only going to help us here.

"Every year you're one more year experienced and have got different things under your belt that are important for the next stage.

"Winning gives you belief, a trust in yourself that you can go all the way. We'll all be using that for sure."

England begin their Group L campaign against Croatia at Dallas Stadium on Wednesday.