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Freeze Frame Shows Phil Foden Was Mere Inches Away From Scoring for England

The goal would have put The Three Lions ahead of the Netherlands 2-1 in the first half.

Josh Wilson

Phil Foden nearly scored a goal, but a Netherlands defender stepped in to stop the shot.
Phil Foden nearly scored a goal, but a Netherlands defender stepped in to stop the shot. / @FOXSports, Twitter

In the semifinal game of the UEFA Euros, the Netherlands struck first but England leveled the score early with a Harry Kane penalty kick. Locked again at an even score in a game that will go to penalties if tied, England kept on the offensive. Phil Fodeen had a near chance at a goal that was stopped at the last possible second from going in.

In the 22nd minute, Bukayo Saka took a pass on the right side from Foden, dribbling toward and into the box. Meanwhile, Foden ran after giving the ball up to his teammate, sprinting at the post. Foden was able to break past the Netherlands fullback Nathan Ake, while the centerback Virgil van Dijk was more interested in Saka's possession.

Saka passed back to Foden, who corralled the pass and shot it. He got it past the goalkeeper in a mere sliver of space available, only for a crashing Netherlands fullback Denzel Dumfries to stop the ball right on the line.

Here's a video of the exciting sequence:

And for good measure, here's where the ball tracking tech says the soccer ball was, and how close it was to being a goal:

Wow. It's tough to get much closer than that.

Some other fun notes from the sequence: The fullback Foden dribbled past is his teammate at Manchester City. Virgil van Dijk plays for Liverpool, a rival of Foden's and Manchester City's during club play. And Dumfries, the player who kept the ball from sneaking past the line, was the player who committed the foul that gave Kane a penalty kick earlier in the game.

Early on, this match is a thrilling one, with a trip to the Euro title game on the line.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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