It’s coming home.
Follow the England v Sweden quarter-final live right here. Gareth Southgate’s men are 90 minutes from the last four of the World Cup. F**king imagine that.
And, in their way, Sweden. Sweden.
To reach this point, England beat Panama 2-1 when Harry Kane got two goals, including a last-minute winner. They then put six past Panama before losing to Belgium’s reserves. In the last-16, England were the better team in a bad-tempered match that ended 1-1 after 90-minutes. The two sides couldn’t be separated in extra-time and the tie went to penalties, where England secured their first ever shootout victory at a World Cup.
Sweden’s route to this stage has caught neutrals by surprise. They finished ahead of the Netherlands in qualification to set-up a play-off against Italy. Over 180-minutes, the Azzurri failed to score against Sweden, who advanced to Russia with a 1-0 aggregate victory.
At the tournament, they beat South Korea 1-0 thanks to Andreas Granqvist’s penalty, They then lost narrowly in a dramatic game to Germany, succumbing to a 2-1 defeat after Toni Kroos’ stoppage-time strike. However, Sweden recovered to put three past Mexico to secure top spot in the group. Switzerland were the next to get the Sweden treatment. The Swiss were frustrated for the entire last-16 tie, falling to a 1-0 defeat after failing to create any clear-cut chances.
Sweden are a difficult prospect for any side. They give very little away and are happy to sit back and wait for their chance to come. Every player knows his job and it’s clear they’re an extremely well-coached side. They certainly don’t miss Zlatan.
England also don’t create many goalscoring chances, with Kane often left isolated up-front. They have used set-pieces to their advantage at the tournament. But Sweden seem better equipped to deal with this threat than sides they have previously faced at the tournament.
It could be a long afternoon. You can follow the action right here:
