England defeated Colombia to reach the quarter-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Penalties were needed at Moscow’s Spartak Stadium to decide the match and keep alive the Three Lions’ dream of a second World Cup title after 1966.


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After a frenetic opening, England began to dictate the tempo of the game. Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard kept moving well between the lines and were rewarded with several set piece opportunities. Without injured superstar James Rodriguez, Colombia relied on quick counterattacks but rarely posed a threat in front of the opposition’s goal.

The second half got off to the perfect start for England. After being brought down in the penalty area, captain Kane converted the resulting spot-kick to give his team the lead. Undeterred, Colombia threw everything forward in the final quarter of an hour and snatched an equaliser through Yerry Mina in the 93rd minute.

Although both teams pushed for a winner in extra time, penalties were ultimately needed to determine the outcome. After Jordan Henderson’s shot was saved for England and Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca both failed to score for Colombia, Dier’s successful spot-kick sealed the Three Lions’ place in the last eight.

Colombia showed character, determination and mental strength at this World Cup. After losing to Japan in their opening game, the team recorded vital wins against Poland and Senegal to top the group. They are an ambitious side who refused to give up after falling behind to England. Despite forcing the match to extra time and then penalties, they were unable to book a place in the quarter-finals.

From Jordan Pickford, who made a name for himself, to Eric Dier, who scored the decisive penalty, no member of Gareth Southgate’s team will ever forget this night. The coach can be proud of his players, who implemented their game plan and showed an irrepressible will to win. England will return to their base in Repino to work on closing out matches, but for now they can enjoy their first victory in a knockout game for 12 years.

Budweiser Man of the Match
Harry Kane gave his team a 1-0 lead and converted his second penalty of the match during the shootout to keep himself in the hunt for both the World Cup Trophy and the adidas Golden Boot for the tournament’s top goalscorer.

The stat
6 – With six goals, Harry Kane has overtaken Geoff Hurst (5) to become England’s second-highest World Cup goalscorer behind Gary Lineker (10). Kane is also the second Englishman after Lineker to score six times at a single World Cup.