Football Results

This World Cup is special for both teams because Sweden is objectively the biggest surprise and they were not expected to be in the round of sixteen, and especially further than that, however, they played very well and are deservedly there, while England finally ended the negative series when it comes to penalties. In the round of sixteen, the English have eliminated Colombia in that way and after a long time qualified in the quarterfinals of a big tournament. Sweden was the first in their group, in front of Mexico and Germany, which was already a success by itself, and they were better than Switzerland in the round of sixteen. These teams have met four times in these big competitions and they have scored one victory with two draws.

Sweden

Sweden is surely not a bad team, but they definitely were not expected in the quarter-finals, but definitely we should not forget that the Swedes were better than Italy in the playoffs, which they after a long time left without placement on a big competition. It did not help them to be taken seriously, but it was obvious to the Scandinavians liked it, and they were seeking their chance from the side. They played the role of favourite against South Korea and they celebrated, but in the second round against Germany, luck turned their backs and they were defeated literary in the last seconds. The decisive match was the one against Mexico, where they had to seek triumph against an unpleasant rival.

They played their best match in Russia and not only won, but mastered the Mexicans with 3-0 and thus confirmed the first place in the group, which was very important because they avoided the Brazilians in the round of sixteen. They played against the Swiss, who were also unpleasant rival, but Sweden again was very strong and Forsberg’s goal was enough to win, while they for the third time at this World Cup managed to keep their network intact. Coach Andersson has not changed the starting line-up a lot and in the round of sixteen he could not count on the suspended midfielder Larsson, but Svensson was a great replacement. Larsson is now back, while the suspended Lustig will have to be replaced by Krafth.

Probable lineups Sweden: Olsen – Krafth, Lindelof, Granqvist, Augustinsson – Ekdal, Larsson, Claesson, Forsberg – Toivonen, Berg

England

After two opening wins, the English played two games without a triumph, but this is less important when it is known that this team has won placement in the quarterfinals. As always, they expected a lot from this big competition, but they also ended the previous ones much earlier than they expected, and in Russia they simply had to pass the group stage with those opponents. They struggled with Tunisia, and then they mastered Panama. That meant that they have secured the round of sixteen and then their duel with the strong Belgium was less important, so they were not at their strongest on the field. But neither was their rival, but the English were defeated, and they have qualified from the second position in the round of sixteen, which has turned out to be a good, given that they have escaped Brazil in this quarterfinals. The match of the round of sixteen with Colombia was a match of the truth and it cannot be said that they played very well but it can be said that they dominated, all the way to the lead which was brought to them by Kane from the penalty with his sixth goal at this World Cup.

The English have kept the lead up to the injury time until they received a goal, which should not have happened to England. There was nothing special in the overtime, and then there were penalties, which in the past were mostly fatal for England. This time, though Henderson have missed the first, but later the Colombians have also missed some chances, more precisely, Pickford has defended the key penalty and England was finally interrupted this negative series when it comes to penalties. It was better for their self-confidence than, than that 1-0, however, they have spent extra energy and now they have injury problems. Coach Southgate has returned Delle Alli in the starting lineup, but he now has problems again, as did Walker and A.Young. There may be changes and Rose should go to the left back, Loftus-Cheek in the midfield, while Rashford probably jumps in the attack instead of Sterling.

Probable lineups England: Pickford – Walker, Stones, Maguire – Trippier, Loftus-Cheek, Henderson, Lingard, Rose – Rashford, H.Kane

Verdict:

The Swedes are a very compact team and they are absolutely difficult to win, however, they are already in the quarter-finals and the question is how many reservists they have. The English have boosted their self-confidence after they broke the “curse” of the penalties and now expect we expect them to play very well and achieve a triumph in the regular course.

Pick: England wins 1.94 - 94/100 @1XBet