On Tuesday - the last day of the World Cup quarter-finals, which will determine the last two teams to advance to the quarter-finals, writes lrt.lt. In the first match, the leader of Group F Sweden and solid in all matches played Switzerland will meet. In the last quarter-final match, the goalless Colombia team and early secured a place in the knockout stages, England will vie for a spot in the quarter-finals. You can watch all the World Cup matches through the official tournament broadcaster LRT.
Unexpectedly, the Swedes, who defeated Mexico, will try to prove that they are not tourists in this championship.
In St. Petersburg on Tuesday, the first teams after a 24-year break will battle for a spot in the quarter-finals Sweden and Switzerland, who last reached the quarter-finals when the championship was held at home in 1958. The Swiss are considered favorites in this match, but the Swedes will definitely want to show that they can achieve more in this championship.
Sweden's path to the top of Group F was dramatic. In the first match, the Swedes narrowly defeated South Korea 1-0 after a penalty kick. In the second match, they faced the Germans, who secured a victory in the last minutes 2-1. In the decisive match, the Blue-Yellows unexpectedly defeated the group leader Mexico 3-0 and secured the first place in Group F.
The Rossocrociati (Swiss national team) started the championship well when they played a 1-1 draw with the Group E favorites Brazil in their first match. In the following matches, the Swiss celebrated their only victory so far in the tournament against the Serbian team 2-1. In the last match, the Swiss managed to secure a draw against Costa Rica with a 2-2 result. The Swiss national team secured the second place in Group E with 5 points.
Janne Andersson's army is one of the most stable in the championship. In the last two group matches, their starting lineup remained unchanged, but on Tuesday they will have to make at least one change as Sebastian Larsson will be unable to play due to accumulated yellow cards.
Two Swiss players will also be unable to help the team due to accumulated yellow cards - Fabian Schar and captain Stephan Lichtsteiner.
Interestingly, the captain of the Scandinavian national team Andreas Granqvist is expected to have a child on the day of the quarter-final match, but he will definitely play in the match.
Sweden's match against England will be the 50th in the history of the World Cup, but they have never become champions - their best performance was when they reached the final at home in 1958 but lost to Brazil.
Switzerland's statistics also do not shine. The last time they reached the quarter-finals was in the 1954 World Cup, which was held at home.
Predicted lineups:
Sweden: Robin Olsen, Mikael Lustig, Victor Lindelof, Andreas Granqvist, Ludwig Augustinsson, Viktor Claesson, Gustav Svensson, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg, Marcus Berg, Ola Toivonen.
Switzerland: Yann Sommer, Michael Lang, Johan Djourou, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez, Valon Behrami, Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri, Blerim Dzemaili, Steven Zuber, Josip Drmic.
Follow these matches from 16:45 on LRT TELEVISION and news portal LRT.lt.
Will the Colombia national team defeat England for the first time?
On Tuesday, at the Spartak Stadium, the quarter-final matches will end with a clash between England and Colombia for the last ticket to the next stage. The English national team is the favorite of the match, but the relentless South Americans will not allow the Europeans to breathe easily.
England had difficulties in the match against Tunisia and only scored the second goal in added time, which determined the victory 2-1. The match against Panama was easier, and the Three Lions won with a score of 6-1. In the last group match against Belgium, the English lost 0-1, but it should be noted that neither team played with their main lineup. It must be admitted that the true strength of this team will only be revealed in the quarter-finals.
Colombia finished first in Group H, but in the first match of the championship, they lost to Japan 1-2. In the following matches, the team from South America showed all their offensive potential and defeated Poland 3-0. In the match against Senegal, the South Americans celebrated a victory with a score of 1-0.
Dele Alli, who has recovered from an injury, may appear in the English lineup. There is no doubt that Gareth Southgate will include captain Harry Kane in the starting lineup, who is currently the top scorer of the championship with 5 goals.
Colombia's coach Jose Pekerman is not sure if Colombian star James Rodriguez will be able to play in this match. He suffered an injury during the match against Senegal, but after detailed examinations, it turned out to be not very serious.
Los Cafeteros - J. Rodriguez is needed more than ever on Tuesday, as they have not yet won against the English national team in five meetings between them. The last time they met at a World Cup was in 1998 when David Beckham and Darren Anderton scored goals against Colombia.
Colombia should not be discouraged, as the last victory England celebrated in the quarter-finals was in 2006, but it was against Ecuador, not against a South American team. The confidence should be added to Colombia's trust in itself, as since the current coach came to the team, Colombia has not lost a match to European teams - 6 wins and 2 draws.
Predicted lineups:
Colombia: David Ospina, Santiago Arias, Davinson Sanchez, Yerry Mina, Johan Mojica; Carlos Sanchez, Mateus Uribe, Juan Cuadrado, Juan Quintero, Luis Muriel, Falcao.
England: Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Kieran Trippier, Dele, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young, Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane.
lrt.lt
