World Cup quarter-final, as it happened: Maguire and Alli goals give England the win over Sweden

FT: Sweden 0-2 England

England had 12 attempts, but only 2 on target. Those 2 were enough for them to coast through to a relatively comfortable win. Jordan Pickford was immense in goal and will cherish a first clean sheet of the tournament.

Full-time and England are through to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win.

Goals from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli enough to see off Sweden, with Gareth Southgate being pleased that Jordan Pickford and the defence managed a clean sheet.

90’: Marcus Rashford comes on, as his England lead 2-0.

Raheem Sterling is taken off by Southgate. Five more minutes to England and Pickford to hold out.

88’: Delph and Henderson get confused among themselves. England are 2-0 up.

Sweden escape. The Three Lions are cruising towards a first semi-final since 1990.

81’: Henderson taken off, as Sweden trail 0-2.

Eric Dier comes on. If England win this, Henderson will have been on the winning side for England in 30 straight games.

76’: Dele Alli goes off. 2-0 to England.

He is replaced by Fabian Delph. Alli became England’s second youngest goal-scorer, behind Michael Owen.

71’: Sweden break quickly, as they trail 0-2.

Berg has another shot but Pickford saves it once again, tipping the ball over the bar.

65’: Maguire with a left-footed shot. 2-0 England.

Mad scramble from the corner but the Leicester City centre-back can’t get his shot on target. Forsberg goes off for John Guidetti.

62’: Ford Pickford holds strong. 2-0 England.

Claesen with a shot from 10 yards but Pickford stands tall, as the Swedes just can’t get past him.

59’: GOAALLL!!! Alli nets England’s second. 2-0.

It’s his first World Cup final goal. Lingard’s cross sees the Tottenham man get a free header and England double their lead.

47’: Berg with a great chance!!! 1-0 England.

Pickford with a great save. He dives to his left to preserve his clean sheet.

46’: We have kick-off in the second half. 1-0 England.

HT: Sweden 0-1 England

Sweden have never won a World Cup match after being behind at half-time. That will have to change if they are to make their first semi-final since 1994.

Half-time and it’s 1-0 to England.

The Three Lions lead through a Harry Maguire header, who gave Robin Olsen no chance in the Swedish goal. The Scandinavians have tried to hit back but England have been solid at the back.

45’: STERLING THROUGH!! 1-0 England.

Beautiful ball by Jordan Henderson over the top, reaches the Manchester City winger who takes one touch too many. Olsen gets an important touch.

43’: Sterling runs through on goal. 1-0 England.

Dele Alli plays a peach of a ball but he’s offside. Sweden with their hearts in their mouths for a moment.

40’: Sterling attacks but his cross-shot is cut out. 1-0 England.

Sweden have attacked but they’re not able to get into the right areas. Pickford hasn’t been troubled at all.

35’: Sweden have a free-kick. 1-0 England.

Pickford picks it up easily. He throws it long to Young who can’t reach it.

30’: GOAALLL!!! Maguire scores. 1-0 England.

The Tottenham right-back Trippier crosses it in and they have a corner. Young takes the corner and Maguire scores with a thumping header.

23’: Trippier overlaps on the right. 0-0.

He releases a cross but Olsen catches it comfortably. This match is yet to explode into life.

19’: Harry Kane has a pop. 0-0.

Raheem Sterling dribbles his way into the box but the English captain shoots wide. Uncharacteristic of Kane, who has scored 6 goals thus far.

14’: Pickford has a go at his defenders as a Swedish shot comes in. 0-0.

The keeper is looking for his first clean sheet of the tournament. England are the only team left in the World Cup without a clean sheet.

10’: Sterling chases a long ball. 0-0.

Granqvist clears as Young has the throw-in. The cross is pouched gleefully by Olsen.

7’: Sweden have a free-kick. 0-0.

The set piece floats harmlessly wide. England look to go forward.

3’: England opt to play it long. 0-0.

Sterling can’t reach Henderson’s diagonal ball. Lots of possession for the Three Lions early on.

1’: We have kick-off.

07:28 pm: The national anthems are done. We are almost ready for kick-off.

07:24 pm: Time for the national anthems.... starting with Sweden, followed by England. Almost time!

07:22 pm: Good luck messages for England from SW19...

07:20 pm: Oh and Beckham responded as well.

07:12 pm: Zlatan has invited Beckham for a high-stakes wager in tonight’s match, by the way.

07:00 pm: 30 minutes to go for the third quarter-final at Russia 2018 Looking for something to do? How about our World Cup quarter-final quiz? Eight questions about memorable last-eight games in history Give it a go!

06:58 pm:

• Sweden have been involved in just one World Cup match that was decided in extra time, losing to Senegal in the Round of 16 in 2002. By contrast, their only experience of a penalty shoot-out ended in victory over Romania in 1994.
• England boast three wins, one draw (in 1954, before the introduction of penalty shoot-outs) and one defeat in games decided in extra time. Against Colombia the Three Lions finally won a World Cup penalty shoot-out at the fourth time of asking, after losing their first three.

06:51 pm:

• The last time Sweden qualified for the quarter-finals was in 1994, when they went on to outsmart Romania on penalties and reach the last four.
• England return to the quarter-finals of a World Cup after losing a penalty shoot-out to Portugal in 2006.

06:43 pm: DID YOU KNOW...

England manager Gareth Southgate took to the field against Sweden three times as a player but never beat them, playing in a 2-1 defeat in 1998, a 1-1 draw in 2001 and a 1-0 loss in Gothenburg in 2004. In that last game, Southgate won his 57th and final England cap, replacing Jonathan Woodgate at the start of the second half and wearing the captain’s armband for the final half-hour, after Steven Gerrard was substituted.

06:38 pm:

• Sweden have won back-to-back World Cup fixtures for the first time since 1958, when they overcame the Soviet Union and Germany FR. The Blagult have only recorded three consecutive victories once, between the 1950 and 1958 editions. The Scandinavians also kept clean sheets in their last two games of this campaign.

06:24 pm: The Swedes have advanced to the World Cup’s last eight for the first time since 1994 and 36-year-old former striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden’s all-time top scorer with 62 goals, has been vocal about their trophy bid.

“They have a big chance to win the World Cup,” Ibrahimovic said. “They beat Mexico (in group stage), which was good and they made a big statement by winning against the Swiss,” Ibrahimovic said. “They’re going well and doing things that no one thought they could do. They believe, and they thought they could do it. They’re making good things, and hopefully, they could continue. We are there to push them. Every Swedish person in the world is proud and we will be proud however it goes in the coming games.”

06:18 pm:

• This is the first time that the teams have faced each other in the knockout stage of a major competition. In the group round of the Uefa European Championship, the Swedes prevailed 2-1 in 1992, whereas England ran out 3-2 winners in 2012.
• In the Fifa World Cup the pair have fought out two draws. The respective scorelines were 1-1 in 2002 (Sol Campbell and Niclas Alexandersson the scorers), when Gareth Southgate was an unused substitute, and 2-2 in 2006 (goals from Joe Cole, Markus Allback with the 200th goal in World Cup history, Steven Gerrard and a 90th-minute Henrik Larsson equaliser). Swedish tactician Sven Goran Eriksson was in the Three Lions’ dugout for both matches.

06:08 pm: Huzzah, the team news is here. England are unchanged, naming the same starting XI as in the game against Colombia. For Sweden, Seb Larsson is back and that’s a big boost.

(Graphic: @FIFAWorldCup)

06:06 pm: It’s safe to assume that there is no reason for Sweden to change the ploy that has worked well for them throughout this World Cup, when they come up against England. They will stay organised at the back, and when they move forward, they will do so at speed and down the flanks and make their physical advantage count. And they will hope ‘anti-Zlatan’ Emil Forsberg can be the danger man he so often promises to be and now has the confidence behind him to do so, having scored the match-winning goal in the round of 16.

06:02 pm: Will Gareth Southgate consider making changes today? For all the euphoria of the win against Colombia, England’s performance was not too impressive over the 120 minutes.

05:59 pm: The last time these two sides met, Sweden won 4-2 in a friendly. And one man scored all four goals for Sweden. No prizes for guessing who. And who can forget that fourth goal!

05:51 pm: Sweden and England have met 23 times overall, with both teams winning seven matches and nine ending in draws. Interestingly, of those 23 matches, two have been in the Euros group stages and two in the World Cup group stages – at the Euros, England and Sweden have one win each (both by a solitary goal margin) while both games at the World Cup were draws (1-1 in 2002 and 2-2 in 2006). It’s fair to say the two teams have known each other well over the years and yet neither of them have figured out a way to consistently beat the other.

But this is the first time the teams are meeting in a knockout setting at a major competition. This is unexpected territory for both teams, arguably. While England’s presence in the last eight was, marginally, more predictable, hardly anyone thought Sweden would top a group that had Mexico and Germany in it and make the quarterfinals by beating Switzerland. These are two teams familiar with each other but when they take the field on Saturday in Samara, not much else will be.

Read more on our preview of the big game here.

05:45 pm: Hello all and welcome to The Field’s live blog of the third quarter-final at Russia 2018. Is football actually on it’s way home? Tonight, we will find out if England get closer to that dream. Or if it is Sweden continuing their improbable run. Remember, these are the only two previous World Cup finalists in this side of the draw. After tonight, we’ll be down to one.

England’s victory against Colombia took Gareth Southgate’s team into what looks like a winnable last-eight match against Sweden, who edged out Switzerland 1-0. Eric Dier’s spot-kick gave England their first-ever win on penalties at a World Cup at the fourth attempt – ending the jinx that has dogged them for so long.

But Southgate said he was already looking forward to Saturday’s quarter-final against Sweden in Samara, with a last-four clash against either Croatia or Russia up for grabs.

“This was special but I want us to go on,” Southgate, whose penalty miss saw England lose to Germany in the Euro 96 semi-finals at Wembley, said.

“Sweden is another team we have a poor record against. We have underestimated them for years. They have created their own story and made history. I don’t want to go home yet.”

(With AFP inputs)

(All stats courtesy: Fifa.com)