The second semifinal of the 2018 World Cup is set. England beat Sweden 2-0 in a convincing performance to further fan the flames of the #itscominghome movements. Later on, their SF rivals revealed to be Croatia, once again winning a penalty shootout, eliminating the difficult hosts Russia, who went through into the quarter-finals on penalties themselves, only this time didn’t do as well.
Semifinal Schedule
10 July, Saint Petersburg: France vs Belgium
11 July, Moscow: Croatia vs England
Sweden 0 England 2 (Match Highlights)
Just when we thought England have met their match in a team that’s just as big, physical and efficient in set piece situations, the Three Lions team makers relative history by dominating the one-stunt Swedes, beating them at their own game with two headers, one by Harry Maguire and the other by Dele Alli, sending England to the semi final for the first time since 1990. Gareth Southgate had the option of making changes, but his belief in the 3-5-2 (or 5-3-2) with Jordan Henderson as the anchor and Raheem Sterling next to Harry Kane is paying off, beating all pre tournament expectations by miles.
Russia 2 Croatia 2 (3-4 after penalties) (Match Highlights)
Both teams hada penalty shootout carry them through in the round of 16, so they thought why not go through another nerve wracking ordeal? Russia took the lead through a 31st minute wonder goal by Denis Cheryshev, but the terrific Andrej Kramaric put Croatia on level terms 8 minutes later. The game went into extra time, and Domagoj Vida’s header looked like it will be enough to put Croatia through in 120 minutes, but Brazilian born Mario Fernandes sent the game to penalty kicks. Fernandes had the opportunity to put Russia in front on the count, but he missed the goal entirely, and Croatia didn’t miss their last 3 kicks, setting off the celebrations.
Goal of the Day – Denis Cheryshev, Russia
Top Scorers
6 goals: Harry Kane (England)
4 goals: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Denis Cheryshev (Russia)
3 goals: Artem Dzyuba (Russia), Diego Costa (Spain), Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann (France), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Yerry Mina (Colombia)
2 goals: Mile Jedinak (Australia), Luka Modric (Croatia), Philippe Coutinho, Neymar (Brazil), Ahmed Musa (Nigeria), Eden Hazard (Belgium), John Stones (England), Luis Suárez (Uruguay), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Son Heung-Min (South Korea), Andreas Granqvist (Sweden), Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia), Sergio Agüero (Argentina), Takashi Inui (Japan)
1 goal: Yuri Gazinsky, Aleksandr Golovin (Russia), Jose Maria Gimenez (Uruguay), Nacho, Isco, Iago Aspas (Spain), Paul Pogba, Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane (France), Lionel Messi, Marcos Rojo, Angel di Maria, Gabriel Mercado (Argentina), Alfred Finnbogason (Iceland), Christian Eriksen,Yussuf Poulsen, Mathias Jorgensen (Denmark), Aleksandar Kolarov, Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia), Hirving Lozano, Carlos Vela, Chicharito (México), Paulinho, Thiago Silva, Roberto Firmino, Renato Augusto (Brazil), Steven Zuber, Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri, Blerim Dzemaili, Josip Drmic (Switzerland), Ola Toivonen, Ludwig Augustinsson, Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Dries Mertens, Michy Batshuayi, Adnan Januzaj, Jan Vertonghen, Marouane Fellaini, Nacer Chadli, Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium), Ferjani Sassi, Dylan Bronn, Fakhreddine Ben Youssef(Tunisia), Shinji Kagawa, Yuya Osaka, Keisuke Honda, Genki Haraguchi (Japan), Juan Quintero, Radamel Falcao, Juan Cuadrado (Colombia), M’Baye Niang, Sadio Mane, Moussa Wague (Senegal), Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jan Bednarek (Poland), Ante Rebic, Ivan Rakitic, Mario Mandzukic, Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Kim Young-Gwon (South Korea), Marco Reus (Germany), Jesse Lingard, Harry Maguire, Dele Alli (England), Felipe Baloy (Panama), Salman Al Faraj, Salem Al Dawsari (Saudi Arabia), Ricardo Quaresma, Pepe (Portugal), Khalid Boutaib, Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco), Karim Ansarifard (Irán), Andre Carrillo, Paolo Guerrero (Peru), Victor Moses (Nigeria), Kendall Watson (Costa Rica)