England are through to the quarter finals of the 2018 World Cup and they did it in remarkable fashion by winning their first ever World Cup penalty shootout against a physical, undisciplined and intimidating Columbian team. On reflection, I think it’s fair to say we deserved to qualify and to do it on penalties must have felt extra sweet for the England players and team, given the diabolic officiating of the match that seemed to be weighed against them, the history surrounding England and penalty shootouts and the constant mention of them in the build up to the game in the media.

This win will hopefully be a spring board to better fortune and performances for this England team going forward in the tournament and next up on Saturday night we will get the chance to dismiss another jinx, when we face one of our bogey sides Sweden, who knocked out Switzerland 1-0 yesterday afternoon.

There’s a two rest day now for the World Cup and the quarter finals get underway on Friday. Tune in Friday morning and I will provide my thoughts on the blockbuster games between Uruguay and France and Brazil against Belgium.

Selections:

World Cup 2018

None