BRAZIL vs BELGIUM:
Brazil marched into the quarter-finals with a solid 2-0 victory over the unpredictable Mexico. After weathering the Mexican storm for the first half an hour of the game, Brazil came into their own. Willian, Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho combined to make numerous forays, scored two goals and defended theirs with much ease.
Belgium had a contrasting game to Brazil's. Belgium were heavily favoured ahead of the match but Japan matches toes to toes in the entire first half to keep it 0-0. Early in the second half, Japan stunned Belgium by scoring two quick goals but the Red Devils responded admirably come back from behind to equalise and then pull off a last-gasp goal to reach quarters.
Brazil vs Belgium is going to be a mouthwatering clash between two tournament-favourites. Both teams have shown excellent attacking flair but perhaps it will be upto their defence this time to decide the clash.
SWEDEN VS ENGLAND:
Sweden advanced to the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Switzerland in what was a scrappy match overall. For the first time in 24 years, Sweden have reached the last eight, courtesy a 66th minute goal from Emil Forsberg and some excellent saves from Swedish keeper Robin Olsen.
England and Colombia played out a dramatic and heated match as Colombia earned seven yellow cards while also conceding a penalty. In the 54th minute, Carlos Sanchez brought down Harry Kane in the box and the English captain scored from the spot to take his tally in the World Cup to six goals. Right when it looked England were going to the quarters, Yerry Mina rose the highest to head in the equaliser for Colombia in the third minute of the stoppage time. The extra time also failed to yield any result and the match went to the shootouts. While Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford scored the first two penalties for England, Falcao and Cuadrado also scored for Colombia. With Ospina saving Henderson's penalty, the advantage went to Colombia missed the next penalty to give that advantage away. Then Tripper scored for England but Uribe's penalty was saved by Pickford. Eric Dier kept his nerves at the end and gave England a 4-3 win on penalties.
England will now meet Sweden. While Colombia's defence seemed to be a big hurdle for England, Sweden might pose a bigger threat in that discipline.
Two matches will take place in the quarter-finals every day on July 6 and July 7 in the following order:
Tag: Sports , FIFA World Cup 2018