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FIFA World Cup 2018 quarterfinals: England beats Sweden, Croatia knocks
out hosts Russia
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July 10, 2018
Original URL: https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup_2018_quarterfinals:_England_beats_Sweden,_Croatia_knocks_out_hosts_Russia
On Saturday, England defeated Sweden 2–0 in the FIFA football World
Cup quarter-finals and the hosts Russia lost to Croatia 3–4 on
penalties. Croatia are to play England for the spot in the finals.
== Sweden vs England ==
Sweden faced England at the Samara Stadium. England had higher ball
possession. English forward Harry Kane missed a chance to open the
scoring from outside the penalty area in the 19th minute from Raheem
Sterling's assist. The English side scored the first goal in the 30th
minute as Harry Maguire scored a header from Ashley Young's assist. It
was Maguire's first goal in an international match. Sterling
had a opportunity in the 45th minute to double the lead for England, but
his shot was blocked. The first half ended with Sweden trailing by one
goal.
In the second half, Sweden got a chance to equalise, but England's
goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved Marcus Berg's header. Just before the
one-hour mark, Jesse Lingard assisted Dele Alli, and Alli scored a goal
from a header, doubling the lead for England. Marcus Berg's attempt to
open the scoring for Sweden from John Guidetti's assist was blocked by
Pickford. Lingard had a chance to triple the lead in the 82nd minute
from Harry Kane's assist, but was blocked. In the 85th minute, England
made a substitution when Eric Dier replaced Jordan Henderson. The match
ended 2–0 as England advanced to the semi-finals.
After the match, England's coach Gareth Southgate said, "I can't speak
highly enough of the whole squad and whole group of staff because it is
so united in there. The level of work has been great and their
commitment to each other, you don't get through with just 11 players.
They are all top people and are the reason we are in the semi-final just
as much as any other."
== Russia vs Croatia ==
Hosts Russia faced Croatia at Sochi's Fisht Stadium. Croatia dominated
ball possession. Russia opened the scoring in the 31st minute, when
Denis Cheryshev scored a long range goal from outside the penalty area
in the top left corner, from Artem Dzyuba's assist. But Russia's lead
did not last long as Andrej Kramarić scored a header in the 39th
minute, assisted by Mandžukić. The first half ended with both sides
with one goal each.
In the second half, Ivan Perišić missed an opportunity in the 60th
minute to double the score for Croatia as his shot rebounded from the
woodwork. Russia replaced Cheryshev with Fedor Smolov in the 67th
minute. Croatia's Mateo Kovačić came on for Kramarić in the 88th
minute. The second half ended with both sides tied to one goal and the
match progressed to extra time.
In the 100th minute, Croatia doubled their score as Domagoj Vida scored
a goal from Luka Modrić's assist. In the 114th minute, Josip Pivarić
was yellow-carded for a hand ball and Russia won a free kick. Mario
Fernandes scored a header from Alan Dzagoev's free kick as both sides
were tied with two goals at the end of extra time and the match went on
to penalties.
The Croatian goalkeeper saved Smolov's penalty while Fernandes missed
his, sending the ball to the left. Marcelo Brozović, Modrić and Vida
scored their penalties for Croatia, while Kovačić's kick was saved.
Sergei Ignashevich and Daler Kuzyaev scored for Russia, and Ivan
Rakitić scored the winning goal for Croatia.
After the match, Croatia's coach Zlatko Dalić said, "Congratulations to
my lads but also to the Russia team, who fought well. This was not a
beautiful game, it was a fight, a battle for the semi-final. We were
lucky." Dalić added, "Of course there is some power left for the
English. We do not want to stop, we will try to play our best game. We
have two matches to play and we are very motivated. We're giving our
all. It will be a battle again but I trust us, I have belief in us."
----
Sebastian Larsson
|goals2 = Harry Maguire
Dele Alli
Harry Maguire
|stadium = Samara Stadium, Samara, Russia
|attendance = 39,991
|referee = Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
}}
----
)
|goals1 = Denis Cheryshev
Mario Fernandes
Fedor Smolov
Alan Dzagoev
Mario Fernandes
Sergei Ignashevich
Daler
Kuzyaev
|goals2 = Andrej Kramarić
Domagoj Vida
Marcelo Brozović
Mateo Kovačić
Luka Modrić
Domagoj Vida
Ivan Rakitić
|stadium = Fisht Stadium, Sochi, Russia
|attendance = 44,287
|referee = Sandro Meira Ricci (Brazil)
}}
== Sources ==
* https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/match/300331541/#match-liveblog
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr7-HtVlAdI
|pub = You Tube
|date = July 7, 2018
}}
* https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44665445
* https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/match/300331504/#match-liveblog
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjU8j2bj3RY
|pub = You Tube
|date = July 7, 2018
}}
* https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44665444
.