Japan and Spain suffered the heartbreak of losing on penalties in their respective round of 16 ties, with both nations serving up their share of terrible spot-kicks.
La Roja in particular were very disappointing, with Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bono making three fairly comfortable stops.
Looking ahead to England's quarter-final against France, there is every possibility that they face the dreaded shootout again.
The Three Lions have had a notoriously tough time in penalty shootouts - so who are the likely candidates this time around and how good are they from the spot?
Likely takers
Harry Kane is undoubtedly England's best and most experienced penalty taker, and in all likeliness will take a spot-kick in the event of a shootout.
Naturally, who is involved comes down to who is still on the pitch at the end of extra-time, but barring any injuries Kane will almost certainly be the first player to step up to the spot.
England's captain has never missed in a shootout for the national side and has scored an incredible 62 spot-kicks throughout his career, although the possibility of facing his club teammate Hugo Lloris adds an extra psychological barrier for the striker.
Both Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford suffered heartbreak in the Euro 2020 final against Italy, missing their respective penalties and being met with waves of unfair abuse from some sections of England fans.
Despite this, both players have bounced back and won over the majority of supporters with their performances in Qatar.
Three goals each means they are England's joint-top scorers and the huge growth in confidence they have shown leaves them in a good position to put things right if they need to.
Saka has only taken a handful of penalties in his short career but has only missed once, that being in the Euro 2020 final.
In contrast, Rashford actually has a remarkable record from the spot and has scored 15 times from a possible 18.
His shootout miss against Italy will still be in the minds of many supporters, but Gareth Southgate will likely be backing him again if he is needed.
Part of the thinking behind his inclusion is his role from the bench - coming on three times already at the 2022 World Cup, meaning he will likely be on the pitch if any game does go all the way.
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Harry Maguire stepped up to take a penalty against Italy, but the defender silenced any doubters with an unstoppable finish into the top corner.
Maguire has never actually taken a penalty during a game but has scored six times in shootouts with his last miss coming seven years ago in the EFL Cup.
Confidence plays a major factor in players' ability to convert their penalty, however, and although he has been faultless so far there may still be some question marks over Maguire if he were called upon.
The fifth option largely comes down to which players are on the pitch.
Jordan Henderson will have the leadership to step up and take one straight away, but his record leaves a lot to be desired.
The Liverpool captain has scored once but also missed once when he failed to convert his spot-kick against Colombia in 2018.
Callum Wilson has a very good record from the spot but isn't guaranteed to be involved in the game having only played 47 minutes at the tournament so far.
If he is involved, though, it would be hard not to have him step up given his impressive conversion rate of 85% having scored 17 from a possible 20.
It is also likely that as a match goes on, the striker will be introduced to give England a different dynamic going forward.
Wildcard options
Plenty of other players have decent records from the spot, while there are some who are more hit-or-miss and others that have only taken one or two penalties in their entire careers.
John Stones, Luke Shaw, Kyle Walker and Jude Bellingham have only taken a handful of penalties between them.
Phil Foden has stepped up twice, scoring once and missing once.
But James Maddison and Mason Mount have more experience.
Maddison has scored 10 from 14, while Mount has seven from 10 - meaning either would be a fairly good choice if they needed to be called upon.
While he will be expected to produce between the posts, Jordan Pickford is a wildcard option and has scored in a shootout for England before.
He netted against Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League third-place playoff game and it was even suggested that he was set to take the next penalty against Italy had Saka scored.
While his availability for the France game is in doubt due to personal reasons, Raheem Sterling is another option.
The forward has missed more than he has scored, though, so may not be high on the list of takers.
