FIFA WC QF : England beat Sweden comprehensively, book a semifinal berth

England beat Sweden in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2018, 2-0. The headers of Harry Maguire and Dele Alli were instrumental in the English victory. England will now face the winner of Croatia versus Russia in the semifinals. England have booked a semifinal berth for the first time since 1990.

England went with an unchanged side. Initially both the teams started slowly and later began to open up. Harry Kane who has scored the most -6 goals in the tournament didn’t manage to score a goal in the quarterfinals.

It was another Harry, Harry Maguire who scored a header in the 30th minute from a towering header off Ashley Young’s corner kick. Harry Maguire became the first English player after Michael Oven to score in a World Cup Quarterfinal in 2002.

First 30 minutes saw only one shot on target from England. England went 1-0 into halftime. Dele Alli scored another header in the 59th minute to propel England’s lead to 2-0. This was Alli’s first World Cup finals goal.

Sweden wasn’t able to breach the English defence. English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford blocked two shots from Marcus Berg to keep England in the winning position.

England had a ball possession of 58% with a pass accuracy of 79% while their counterparts Sweden had a ball possession of 42% with a pass accuracy of 72%.