It’s Coming Home-mania will reach peak status on Saturday afternoon when England take on Sweden in Samara. Gareth Southgate’s team made history in their round of 16 clash against Colombia, winning a penalty shootout for the first time in 28 years. Meanwhile, Sweden beat Switzerland 1-0 thanks to a deflected goal from Emil Forsberg.
Eric Dier scored the winning penalty in the shootout, but Jordan Pickford was the man of the moment, making an extraordinary save during the 90 minutes, as well as making another excellent save in the shootout. England dominated possession in the game, but didn’t create too many chances and having just two shots on target all game. Once again, the Three Lions had to rely on Harry Kane, who scored first on the night from the penalty spot after being hauled down in the box.
Sweden are one of the toughest teams to break down in the tournament, as they line up in a 4-4-2 formation with most players behind the ball. They’re very well organised, but do waste chances as they showed against Switzerland. They’ve scored just 6 goals in their four matches so far and don’t expect to see too many in this match either.
Sweden vs. England Predictions
England’s record against Sweden is poor and their two meetings in the W. Cup in this century have both ended in draws. Sweden’s style isn’t designed to be exciting, but it’s very effective. Don’t expect too many goals in the game, but confidence is high in the England team and they should progress to the semi-finals.
Sweden vs. England Betting Tips
- England to win 1-0: 9/2
- Under 1.5 total goals: 6/4
- England to win after penalties: 10/1
- Harry Kane to score first 11/4
Head to Head
- This will be the 25th meeting between these sides. England have won eight to Sweden’s seven, with nine draws.
- Both of the previous W. Cup meetings between Sweden and England have finished level, with a 1-1 draw in 2002 and a 2-2 in 2006 (both in the group stages).
- Sweden could become the third team that England have beaten at both the W. Cup and European Championships, after Germany and Switzerland. They beat Sweden 3-2 in Euro 2012.
- Sweden are competing in their fifth W. Cup quarter final. They’ve progressed to the semi final in three of their previous four (1938, 1958 and 1994), losing only in 1934 against Germany.
- England have reached the W. Cup quarter final for the first time since 2006, when they lost on penalties to Portugal. They’ve not progressed beyond this stage since 1990, when they beat Cameroon 3-2.
- England have only progressed from two of their eight previous W. Cup quarter final appearances, doing so in 1966 and 1990.
- 11 of Sweden’s last 14 goals at the W. Cup have been scored in the second half, including five of their six goals at this tournament.
- No England player has scored more W. Cup goals in a single tournament than the six Harry Kane has scored in 2018. Gary Lineker also netted six in 1986, winning the Golden Boot in the process.
- Harry Kane has scored with all six of his shots on target for England at the W. Cup, including three penalties. The last player to score three at a W. Cup tournament was Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov in 1994.
- Harry Kane could become only the third player in the history of the England national team to score in seven consecutive appearances. The others are George Camsell (9 in a row between 1929 and 1936) and Steve Bloomer (10 in a row between 1895 and 1899).
- Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen has kept three clean sheets at the 2018 W. Cup, a joint-record for a Swedish goalkeeper in W. Cup finals history (also three clean sheets for Ronnie Hellstrom in 1974 and Karl Svensson in 1958).
- Sweden striker Marcus Berg has had 13 shots without scoring at the 2018 W. Cup, the most of any player to fail to score this tournament. The last Sweden player to have more shots without scoring at a W. Cup was Ove Grahn in 1974 (17 shots, 0 goals).
Sweden Team News
Robin Olsen (FC Copenhagen), Karl-Johan Johnsson (Guingamp), Kristoffer Nordfelft (Swansea), Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Victor Lindelof (Manchester United), Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar), Martin Olsson (Swansea), Ludwig Augustinsson (Werder Bremen), Filip Helander (Bologna), Emil Krafth (Bologna), Pontus Jansson (Leeds), Sebastian Larsson (Hull), Albin Ekdal (Hamburg), Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig), Gustav Svensson (Seattle Sounders), Oscar Hiljemark (Genoa), Viktor Claesson (Krasnodar), Marcus Rohden (FC Crotone), Jimmy Durmaz (Toulouse), Marcus Berg (Al Ain), John Guidetti (Alaves), Ola Toivonen (Toulouse), Isaac Kiese Thelin (Waasland-Beveren)
England Team News
Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Manchester United), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Crystal Palace), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)