Football Results

Columbia and England have quite expectedly reached the round of 16 of the World Cup in Russia. The two teams made identical results in the group phase; two wins and one defeat, where Columbia lost in the first round and England in the last one, which prevent it to win the first place in the Group G. After losing the first match to Japan Columbia was under strong pressure but it managed to win two following matches with a clean sheet. The English had an easier job as they routinely defeated two outsiders in first two rounds, after which Southgate made a number of changes in the line-up for match with Belgium since England has already qualified for the last 16. Columbia and England met the last time in 2005 and England won 3-2.

Colombia

The Columbians competed in one of most equal groups and it was expected that will not be easy. The situation turned to worse after they lost to Japan in the first round, team that was objectively the weakest in the Group H. C. Sanchez was sent off at the very beginning and they received a goal from penalty, so it was difficult to expect a good result. Pressure increased in the second round against Poland but they played the best. The Columbians dominated throughout the whole match and, which was very important, J. Rodriguez was on the pitch from the first minute with whom they were far more dangerous. J. Rodriguez has proved that with two assistances while Columbia was back in the race for the round of 16 with 3-0 victory. On the other hand the Poles were eliminated from the race.

Match with Senegal was next and again the Columbians played under imperative of victory, given that could reach the last 16 only with three new points. The match was hard and both teams calculated since a draw could do for both combined with some other results, however, after a set piece Y. Mina scored for Columbia and that was enough for victory, which not only qualified them for the round of 16 but also put them at the first place in the Group H. Columbia passed the group phase for the first time in history after it lost the first match. Problem is injury of J. Rodriguez who is questionable for the match. C. Sanchez is back and he replaced injured Aguilar, while Muriel might play instead of J. Rodriguez.

Probable lineups Columbia: Ospina – Arias, Y. Mina, D. Sanchez, Mojica – Uribe, C. Sanchez – Ju. Cuadrado, Quintero, Muriel – Falcao

England

There is absolutely nothing negative to say about the English after the group phase. The team played as good as it needed to reach the round of 16. There were certain problems in the first round against Tunisia and the English scored a lucky goal in last moments of the match. In the second round they totally outplayed Panama, winning by 6-1, which was the most decisive victory in the group phase of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. They steamrolled their opponents already in the first half when they scored five goals and qualified for the last 16. H. Kane had a hat trick and by that he become one of most serious candidates for the first scorer of the World Cup, given that he also scored both England’s goals against Tunisia. Still, he didn’t play in the third round as Southgate decided to shuffle the deck and rest almost all players who appeared in first two rounds.

Their opponent were very good Belgians but they too played with the reserve team. That was an opportunity for England but in the end they lost 1-0 and ended up at the second place in the group. By that the English got a bit more difficult opponent in the round of 16, but if they win the path toward the final should be easier. It is hard to tell have they deliberately chosen such path but it is clear that match with Columbia will be everything but not easy. The Columbians are much better team than the first two in the group phase and only now we are going to see how much England is really good. Out of players who started first two matches only stopper Stones appeared against Belgium, but he got injured in the match and is questionable for this one. If he gets ready on the pitch goes exactly the same team that defeated Panama, while if Stones cannot play his place will taske Cahill.

Probable lineups England: Pickford – Walker, Stones (Cahill), Maguire – Trippier, Loftus-Cheek, Henderson, A. Young – Lingard, Sterling – H. Kane

Verdict:

Columbia got more tired in the group phase. It had to play with full throttle all the time and its bets player is injured, while the English mostly rest in the last round of the group phase, which is why we expect to dominate the match and win.

Pick: England wins 2.17 - 117/100 @1XBet