England vs Sweden player ratings: Who stood out as Three Lions reach semi-finals with victory in Samara

England 2-0 Sweden: Man-for-man marking from the World Cup quarter-final

Jack de Menezes
Saturday 07 July 2018 17:33 BST
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BoxPark Croydon celebrates Dele Alli's goal

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England will play for a place in the World Cup final after they defeated Sweden 2-0 to book their place in the semi-finals, sealing their best performance at the tournament since 1990 in the process.

Harry Maguire and Dele Alli both found the back of the net to send England to the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, where they will take on either Croatia or hosts Russia.

A nervy and rather poor first 20 minutes was soon ended when England made their set-piece superiority count as defender Maguire got onto a Kieran Trippier corner to head home.

The Three Lions held onto the advantage to the break, and midway through the second half England took the aerial route once again to head past Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen to double the lead and settle the nerves.

It was very much what England failed to do against Colombia in building on the strong first half, and as a result England were able to cruise home to victory in Samara – crucially with none of Jordan Henderson, Kyle Walker and Ashley Young picking up bookings to give Gareth Southgate a full squad to pick from for the semi-finals.

So how did the players perform? Click on the gallery above to find out.

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