On Saturday, the last two quarter-final matches of the World Cup will take place, during which it will be clear who will advance to the semi-finals and get closer to the championship trophy. You can watch all the championship battles through the official tournament broadcaster LRT.
Football is coming back home, or will the blue-yellow scarves be put on?
This football championship is not short of surprises, one of which can be called Sweden's entry into the quarterfinals, but they will face a tough nut - the title-hungry England national team, whose fans are thinking that maybe football will finally be coming back home after long wanderings.
Sweden's journey to the first place in Group F was dramatic. In the first match, the Swedes barely defeated South Korea 1-0 after a penalty kick. In the second match, they met the Germans, who secured victory with a goal in the last minutes 2-1. In the decisive match, the "Blue-Yellows" unexpectedly crushed group leader Mexico 3-0 and secured the first place in Group F.
In the quarterfinal, experts gave more chances of advancing to the next stage to the Swiss national team, but a goal by Emil Forsberg in the 66th minute was enough for the Swedes to secure a ticket to the quarterfinals.
The England team had difficulties in the match against Tunisia and only scored the second goal in extra time, determining the victory 2-1. The match against Panama was easier and the "Three Lions" won 6-1. In the last group match against Belgium, the English lost 0-1, but it should be noted that both teams did not field their main squad players.
The true strength of this team was revealed in the quarterfinals, where they faced the Colombians. The main time ended in a draw, and England only advanced to the quarterfinals after winning the penalty shootout.
The "Three Lions" understand that they have wonderful chances to repeat the triumph of 1966. If they manage to beat Sweden on Saturday, then in the semifinals they will face either the Croatians or the host Russians, which are definitely not the teams that were considered favorites before the championship, but there are many surprises in Russia, so first of all you need to win, and only then think about what's next.
The England team can boast of their true attacking leader Harry Kane, who is the top scorer in the championship and has already scored six goals. The strength of the Swedish team this year is that they do not have big stars in the team, and the relationships between the players are better than ever. However, the Scandinavians also have losses - Mikael Lustig will not be able to play for the Swedish team due to accumulated yellow cards.
The teams have met 24 times before - England celebrated victory eight times, and Sweden seven times. However, in the World Cup, they faced each other twice in the group stage and both matches ended in draws.
The "Blue-Yellows" are playing in their fifth World Cup and have reached the semifinals in three of them. The England team will play in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006, but they have not crossed the quarterfinal barrier for the past 28 years.
England has already broken the curse of penalty shootouts, perhaps it's time to advance to the semifinals as well?
Watch these matches on July 7th from 16:45 on LRT TELEVISION and LRT.lt news portal.
How long will the host's fairy tale last?
In Sochi, the Russian national football team will seek to silence all skeptics and defeat the seemingly strong Croatia national team in the championship.
The Russian team started the championship impressively - in the opening match, they crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0, in the next match they defeated Egypt 3-1. In the last group stage match, the hosts fought with the Uruguayan team for the first place in Group A. The Russians were not prepared to withstand the Uruguayan offensive and lost 0-3.
The Russians aimed to prove to all critics that they are capable of fighting and advancing. In the quarterfinals, they achieved a historic victory against Spain, albeit after a penalty shootout. This victory took the championship hosts and the whole country into euphoria.
In the first group stage match, Croatia proved their advantage against Nigeria with a 2-0 victory, in the second match, the Europeans defeated Argentina 3-0, and in the last match, they did not spare the newcomers Iceland with a 2-1 victory. After these results, they took the first place in Group D.
The first serious test awaited the Croatians in the quarterfinals, where they celebrated victory also only after a penalty shootout, where both team's goalkeepers played brilliantly.
The Russian team already has reason to be proud - for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, they have reached the World Cup quarterfinals, while Croatia has only done so once in 1998 when they defeated the German national team in the quarterfinals.
Another significant fact - all host teams since 1990 have reached the semi-finals of championships.
With such statistics, Croatia should not be stopped, especially knowing how well the team's attack works. In four matches, they have already scored eight goals, the same number of goals they scored in the 2006 and 2014 championships combined.
Watch these matches on July 7th from 20:45 on LRT TELEVISION and LRT.lt news portal.
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