Even the nation's finest goalkeepers, dating back to Gil Merrick, who died earlier this year, but who was on the receiving end of a 6-3 defeat by Hungary at Wembley in November, 1953, have endured nightmare experiences.
Among the most famous, or infamous, were those of:
Peter Bonetti, who conceded a goal to a low bobbling long shot from Germany's Franz Beckenbauer in a 3-2 defeat in Mexico, in 1970.
Peter Shilton, who allowed a soft, low effort from Poland's Jan Domarski to beat him and eliminate England in a key World Cup qualifier at Wembley in October, 1973.
Shilton was also dispossessed by Robert Baggio, who promptly scored, while trying to dribble during the third-place play-off against Italy in the 1990 World Cup finals. He was England's most-capped player with 125 appearances, but that was his last before retiring, in Italy's 2-1 win.
David Seaman is left stranded out of position as a swirling angled cross-shot from a free-kick by Brazil's Ronaldinho flies over his head and into the top corner in a World Cup quarter-final in Shizuoko, Japan, in June, 2002.
David James, one of the current trio in the squad, lived up to his "Calamity" nickname when he allowed a speculative shot from Andreas Ivanschitz to beat him from long range in a 2-2 draw with Austria in a World Cup qualifier in Vienna in September, 2004.
