England continue their dream run in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, beating Sweden 2-0 to enter their third-ever semi-final. Sweden pressed hard and had their chances in the final third but failed to get past goalkeeper Pickford. The Three Lions took an early lead after Harry Maguire opened the scoreline in the 30th minute and Dele Alli’s header 58th minute, off a brilliant assist by Lingard, sealed the semis spot for the English side. It is the end of the road for Sweden, who will go home with plenty of positives.   


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England 2-0 Sweden!!!


Full-time!!


90+4 minute: Yellow card!! Sweden's Sebastian Larsson gets a yellow card for a challenge on Harry Kane. 


90+1 minute: Substitution for England. Sterling is replaced by  Marcus Rashford. 


5 minutes of Stoppage time!!


90 minute: Free-kick to Sweden. England have not kept a clean sheet in this World Cup. This could be dangerous. Augustinsson skies the ball away from the goal. 


87 minute: Yellow card! England's Harry Maguire gets booked for a challenge on John Guidetti. 


84 minute: Free-kick to England after Kieran Trippier goes down in a challenge from Augustinsson. Substitution for England. Dier is in for Henderson. 


10 minutes to go! 


78 minute: Sweden's Emil Krafth does not look comfortable after a collision with Young. The players take a breather as the medical team attend Krafth. 


77 minute: Substitution for England. Dele Alli is replaced by Fabian Delph. 


72 minute: Sweden's Marcus Berg waits for the ball to drop in the box and fires a shot on the goal but Pickford tips it away. What a save. Corner for Sweden. 


65 minute: Substitution for Sweden. Toivonen is replaced by Guidetti. Martin Olsson is in for Emil Forsberg.


62 minute: MISS!!  Sweden open the England defence up with their one-touch passing, but goalkeeper dives to his right to block Viktor Claesson's shot. That was close. 


England 2-0 Sweden!!


58 minute: GOAL!!! Lingard chips the ball in the middle and finds Dele Alli in the close range, the latter nets his first World Cup goal. 


57 minute: England's Lingard attempts a shot from distance, but the ball is deflected away by a defender. Corner for England. 


54 minute:  Free-kick to England. Young whips the ball in, Maguire heads the ball from far post to Sterling, Sterling attempts bicycle kick but fails to hit the target. 


50 minute: Sweden are up and attacking in the midfield forcing England to defend deep. 


47 minute: SAVED!! Postive start by Sweden in the second-half as Marcus Berg fires a header towards the England goal but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford makes a brilliant save. That was close. 


Second-half is underway!


England 1-0 Sweden!!


Half-time!!


45 minute: SAVED!!  Sterling picks up a pass in the Sweden box, he attempts to cut the goalkeeper but Robin Olsen makes a timely save. That was close. Corner for England.


35 minute: Sweden have been resilient in the defence denying England with any kind of space in the final-third but England have been brilliant with their set-pieces. 


 England 1-0 Sweden!


30 minute: Corner for England. GOAL!!! Harry Maguire rises to head England's first goal of the match. The Three Lions take the lead. 


24 minute:   Kieran Trippier picks up the ball and fires a cross from the right but goalkeeper Robin Olsen makes a comfortable save. 


20 minute: England's Kane finds space right outside the box but shoots the ball wide. 


15 minute: While England have had majority of the possession, they have failed to create chances in the final third. 


13 minute: Sweden's Viktor Claesson fires a shot from distance but clouds the ball away from the goal. 


10 minute: Harry Kane chips the ball towards the Sweden box, in an attempt to find Sterling but the ball gets cleared by a Sweden defender. 


 7 minute: England's Dele Alli makes a threatening run up-front but miscues his pass. That was close. 


Kick-off!


 



 


Lineups


England XI: Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson; Kieran Trippier, Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli, Ashley Young; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane. 


Sweden XI: Robin Olsen; Emil Krafth, Victor Lindelof, Andreas Granqvist, Ludwig Augustinsson; Viktor Claesson, Sebastian Larsson, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg; Ola Toivonen, Marcus Berg.


The Three Lions have not progressed beyond the quarter-final stage since 1990. Sweden, on the other hand, playing their fifth quarter-final after 1994, have advanced to the last four in three of their previous four quarters match (1938, 1958 and 1994), losing only to Germany (2-1) in 1934. 


England have looked threatening from set-pieces, scoring nine goals from penalties, corners or free-kick. While strikers Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard have had their chances in the tournament so far but England will heavily rely on Harry Kane, who has scored six goals in three games, to deliver in the final third against a clinical Swedish defence. 


Full squad:


England: 


Goalkeepers- Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope. 


Defenders- Phil Jones, Gary Cahill, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Danny Rose, Ashley Young, John Stones, Harry Maguire. 


Midfielders- Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli. 


Forwards- Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, Danny Welbeck.


Sweden: 


Goalkeepers- Robin Olsen, Karl-Johan Johnsson. 


Defenders - Mikael Lustig, Victor Lindelof, Andreas Granqvist, Martin Olsson, Ludwig Augustinsson, Filip Helander, Emil Krafth, Pontus Jansson.


Midfielders - Sebastian Larsson, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg, Gustav Svensson, Oscar Hiljemark, Viktor Claesson, Marcus Rohden, Jimmy Durmaz. 


Forwards - Marcus Berg, Ola Toivonen, John Guidetti, Isaac Kiese-Thelin.