World Cup 2018
Quarter-Final 3
Saturday, July 7th
Samara Arena, Russia
Kick-off at 15:00 (3pm) GMT
SWEDEN VS ENGLAND
England will have the opportunity to take their place in the last four of the
FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1990 when they finished in fourth place in Italy. Standing in their way are Sweden. The Scandinavians have stunned much of the footballing world already on their road to the last eight.
The Swedes booked their place in the finals after navigating through arguably the toughest group in European qualifying, dumping out the Dutch in the process before a two-legged playoff victory over the four-time world champions, Italy. There was still room for some more shocks as the defending champions Germany exited the tournament at the group stage for the first time in their history, as the Swedes topped what was dubbed the ‘Group of Death’ that also pitted the pair against Mexico and South Korea respectively. Captain and veteran defender Andreas Granqvist is the Blagult’s leading marksmen having netted two spot-kicks.
Sweden World Cup 2018 results:
18/06/2018 – Sweden 1-0 South Korea
23/06/2018 – Germany 2-1 Sweden
27/06/2018 – Mexico 0-3 Sweden
03/07/2018 – Sweden 1-0 Switzerland (R16)
Gareth Southgate could yet be the man that leads this England squad to the most unlikely World Cup triumph after finally breaking their dreaded penalty shootout curse with a hard-fought victory over Colombia in the round of 16. They are yet to keep a clean sheet, in four matches in Russia, yet will face either the hosts Russia or the dark horses of this competition, Croatia, if they can overcome a stubborn Swedish defence on Saturday. Harry Kane is currently leading the race for the Golden Boot with six strikes to his name – half of those coming from the penalty spot.
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England World Cup 2018 results:
18/06/2018 – Tunisia 1-2 England
24/06/2018 – England 6-1 Panama
28/06/2018 – England 0-1 Belgium
03/07/2018 – Colombia 1-1 England* (R16)
*England won 4-3 on penalties
When the pair clash in Samara they will reignite an age-old rivalry. England and Sweden have met four times previously at the FIFA World Cup, most recently and most memorably in the group stage of the competition in 2006 when Joe Cole’s thunderbolt of a volley opened the scoring and lit up a fiery encounter that eventually played out to a thrilling 2-2 draw.
Sweden vs England head-to-head: (all competitions)
Played: 23
Sweden Wins: 7
Draws: 9
England Wins: 7
Sweden Goals: 31
England Goals: 35
Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted all four goals for his side when the duo last faced, in a 4-2 international friendly win in 2012, including that iconic overhead kick from well over 30 meters out that sent the home crowd into wild raptures. Danny Welbeck and Steven Caulker had earlier given England a first-half lead with two goals in the space of three minutes.
Sweden vs England recent results:
14/11/2012 – Sweden 4-2 England
15/06/2012 – Sweden 2-3 England
15/11/2011 – England 1-0 Sweden
20/06/2006 – Sweden 2-2 England
31/03/2004 – Sweden 1-0 England
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