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Predictions

• Colombia 0-2 England
• Sweden 1-1 Switzerland

Colombia v England (1900 BST - ITV)

This is it, England's biggest game in a decade as the serious business of World Cup knockout football starts for Gareth Southgate's men, and things could hardly have gone any better for them without even playing with how the draw is working out.

Whether you say it out loud or not, England have their best chance in years to go deep into the tournament with Colombia and then Sweden or Switzerland standing in their way of reaching the semi-finals. Hence them now being just 6/1 in the outright market despite their horrible knockout record.

Not that Colombia won't offer a stern test with or without James Rodriguez, but this is a test England can pass if they can aviod the knockout jitters that have hampered their predecessors - and led to half of their 14 World Cup knockout games since the 1966 final going to extra time.

It's 9/1 for the Three Lions to win in extra time (14/1 Colombia) while either team on penalties at 9/2 will attract some attention from nervy england fans.

Given the players on show this looks like being a quick-paced encounter as both sides like a high tempo and there's pace and power all over the pitch. Set plays, though, could be crucial as goals should be much harder to come by than against the likes of Panama.

Both sides look powerful at attacking corners and free kicks so the likes of Stones and Maguire anytime scorers (both 16/1 best price) is worth a look while Yerry Mina is 11/1 with Bet365 to bag a third goal of the tournament.

Colombia did concede against Japan from a cross but the South Americans have not let a goal in when having 11 men on the pitch in this tournament, although they were stretched at times against Senegal in a game they were fortunate to win.

Rodriguez will obviously be a big loss if he's not fit, but Juan Quintero will pick up the slack and he's looked dangerous with his quality in open play and on dead balls. He's a standout 6/1 with Betfred to score anytime and given his excellence from free kicks that's also worth noting.

The first goal will be crucial in this, especially for England to settle those nerves and also draw Colombia out to then create space in behind - but there shouldn't be a lot of goals and England backers should look at Southgate's men to win and under 2.5 goals at 11/4.

On the outright odds, Colombia are overpriced at 3/1 to win the game in 90 minutes as they've got enough to make it much closer, but saying that I do think England have the players, and perhaps more importantly the system, to get the job done in 90 minutes and at 23/20 that's where I'll be heading.

We can save the penaty dramas for later in the tournament!

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Opta Stats

• England are unbeaten against Colombia, having faced them five times previously (W3 D2). Their last encounter dates back to May 2005 in New Jersey. England won 3-2 thanks to a Michael Owen hat-trick.
• England beat Colombia in their only previous World Cup encounter thanks to goals from Darren Anderton and David Beckham (2-0), it was in the group stages of the 1998 tournament. Current England boss Gareth Southgate was an unused sub that night.
• Colombia have reached the knockout stages of the World Cup for the third time but it’s the first time they have accomplished it in consecutive tournaments (1990, 2014, 2018). The only previous occasion they’ve gone past the round of 16 was in 2014.
• Three of Colombia’s five goals at this year’s World Cup have come from set-pieces (two from corners, one from direct free-kick) whilst England scored more goals from dead ball situations than any other team in the group stages (6).
• Colombia have scored in each of their last eight World Cup games, the longest current run of any team as of the end of the 2018 group stages. The last time Colombia failed to find the net in the tournament was in June 1998 against England (0-2).
• None of Colombia’s 21 games at the World Cup has ended goalless. In fact, only the USA (33) and Austria (29) have played more games in the competition without ever registering a 0-0.
• England have won only two of their last eight knockout games at the World Cup (v Denmark in 2002, v Ecuador in 2006). They had progressed in six of their eight previous games in the knockout phase.
• Since (and including) the 1966 World Cup final, 50% of England’s knockout games at the tournament have gone to extra-time (7 out of 14). Three have been decided by a penalty shoot-out, all lost by England (Germany 1990, Argentina 1998, Portugal 2006).
• England have only failed to score in one of their 18 knockout games at the World Cup, that was against Portugal in the 2006 quarter-finals (0-0 a.e.t, 1-3 on penalties).
• Harry Kane has played 153 minutes at the World Cup but already only Gary Lineker (10) has scored more times for England in the tournament than the Tottenham striker (5). If Kane finds the net against Colombia, he’ll become the first player to score in six consecutive games for the Three Lions since Tommy Lawton back in 1939.
• Juan Quintero has been directly involved in three of Colombia’s five goals at this World Cup, scoring in the first game and delivering an assist in the second and third game.