The Hesford Diet
Striker
If we're going to look at England "traditionally" bowing out at the quarter final stage at any tournament, we may as well acquaint ourselves with what has actually happened since we last won something.
There were no quarter finals in the World Cup between 1974 and 1982 (and England failed to qualify for two of them anyway).
Quarter finals were also only introduced to the European Championships from 1996 onwards. There were only 4 nations at the Finals until 1976, then 8 until 1992.
1970 - Q/F
1986 - Q/F
1990 - S/F
1994 - failed to qualify
1996 - S/F
1998 - 2nd round
2000 - group phase
2002 - Q/F
2004 - Q/F
2006 - Q/F
2008 - failed to qualify
2010 - 2nd round
2012 - Q/F
2014 - group phase
2016 - 2nd round
2018 - S/F
2020 - Finalists
If anything, "tradition" shows we are just as likely to be knocked out before the last eight, whether it be at the Finals or the qualifiers. Going further than that has been an occasional treat, at least up until recently. Only the Sven Goran Eriksson era had a regular QF departure.
There were no quarter finals in the World Cup between 1974 and 1982 (and England failed to qualify for two of them anyway).
Quarter finals were also only introduced to the European Championships from 1996 onwards. There were only 4 nations at the Finals until 1976, then 8 until 1992.
1970 - Q/F
1986 - Q/F
1990 - S/F
1994 - failed to qualify
1996 - S/F
1998 - 2nd round
2000 - group phase
2002 - Q/F
2004 - Q/F
2006 - Q/F
2008 - failed to qualify
2010 - 2nd round
2012 - Q/F
2014 - group phase
2016 - 2nd round
2018 - S/F
2020 - Finalists
If anything, "tradition" shows we are just as likely to be knocked out before the last eight, whether it be at the Finals or the qualifiers. Going further than that has been an occasional treat, at least up until recently. Only the Sven Goran Eriksson era had a regular QF departure.