BBC forced to mute Gary Lineker during live broadcast after England beat Switzerland at Euro 2024

England are through to the Euro 2024 semi-finals after beating Switzerland on penalties.

The Three Lions are through to the final four after they held their nerve during spot-kicks to book a tie against either the Netherlands or Turkiye.

It’s the first time England have reached the semi-final stage of a European Championship in consecutive tournaments since the group stage was introduced in 1980.

All five England penalty takers kept their cool to find the back of the net with Jordan Pickford denying Manual Akanji from 12 yards which sent the Swiss crashing out of the competition.

Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold held his nerve after being introduced in extra-time to slam the winning penalty into the top corner and spark wild celebrations across the country.

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka bravely stepped up to take a spot-kick, just three years after missing against Italy in the Euro 2020 final, and Gary Lineker couldn’t hide his delight that the 22-year-old had got his redemption.

The reaction of Lineker, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Micah Richards to Saka’s penalty was replayed on the broadcast but producers were forced to mute the audio due to the BBC host.

Micah Richards questioned the lack of audio and Lineker admitted his emotions got the better of him and he was unable to prevent a swear word slipping out.

“I think, to be honest, I dropped an f-bomb,” Lineker laughed.

Gary Lineker's audio was forced to be muted on the replay (BBC)

As per the BBC’s editorial guidelines, there are no banned words or phrases.

However, they add it is the responsibility of all content makers to ensure strong language is only used where it is editorially justified.

Furthermore, the guidance lists the word ‘f***’ as some of the strongest language with the potential to cause the most offence.

Of course, Lineker should be forgiven for getting carried away after being forced to endure England’s penalty heartache over the years.

England managed their perfect penalty record without first-choice taker Harry Kane who was substituted in extra-time after colliding with the advertisement boards following a collision with Akanji.

The Bayern Munich forward confirmed he would be back for the semi-final which takes place on July 10.