MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. The entire list of participants of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia's last eight became known on Tuesday, Day 20, as England defeated Colombia on a penalty shootout win while Sweden edged past Switzerland 1:0.
Sweden defeats Switzerland 1:0
In the first game of the day, Sweden advanced into the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals after defeating Switzerland 1-0 in their Round of 16 match played in St. Petersburg before a crowd of 64,042 fans.
Sweden’s midfielder Emil Forsberg scored the game’s only goal in the 66th minute.
Sweden will make its first World Cup quarterfinal appearance in 24 years, after coming in third in the 1994 edition of the tournament.
The symbolic benchmark of 40 million visitors to all FIFA World Cup events worldwide since it began in 1930 was crossed during the game, FIFA announced after the match.
Team England breaks penalty shootout curse
On Tuesday night, Team England completed the list of the quarterfinalists at the 2018 FIFA World Cup after a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Colombia in Moscow following their dramatic 1-1 draw of the closing match of the Last 16 stage.
The knockout stage match between England and Colombia in Moscow was played during mostly cloudy weather amid temperatures of about 20 degrees Centigrade, nevertheless, the Spartak Arena drew a near full house with 44,190 spectators attending the game.
It was Harry Kane who put the ball into the Colombian net on the penalty shot, scoring his 6th goal at this FIFA World Cup, and opening the score at 1-0 in favor of England.
A host of yellow cards for the both sides followed the first goal of the match, but enjoying the 1-0 lead over Colombia, Team England’s defense clearly battled tooth and nail until the final whistle to signal their entry into the quarterfinals stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
However, the Colombian team delighted its fans around the globe with a goal in the closing seconds of the match as defender Yerry Mina tied the score at 1-1 sending an uncatchable header into the net of the opponents, as well as sending the match into overtime.
The penalty shootout saw England’s Jordan Pickford saving one of the balls while another hit the upper bar of the goal’s frame. Colombia’s Ospina made one save letting in the other shots and failing to take his team to the other round of the world championship.
This is Team England’s first-ever penalty shootout victory during the World Cup. They lost to Federal Republic of Germany in the semifinal in 1990, to Argentina in the Round of 16 in 1998 and to Portugal in the quarterfinal in 2006.
Upcoming schedule
No games are scheduled for the next two days.
The quarterfinals will kick off on Friday, when Uruguay will take on France in Nizhny Novgorod at 17:00 Moscow time. On the same day, Brazil will face Belgium at 21:00 Moscow time in Kazan. Sweden and England will clash in city of Samara at 17:00 Moscow time, while Russia will take on Croatia in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi at 21:00 Moscow time on July 7.