England manager Gareth Southgate called on his players to “keep making history” he targets a first World Cup semifinal appearance since 1990 when they take on Sweden in Samara. Southgate’s youthful side ended England’s 12-year wait to win a knockout match at a major tournament after they scraped past Colombia on penalties in the last 16.
It marked the first time England had won a shootout at the World Cup in four attempts, while the 6-1 group-stage victory over Panama was their biggest World Cup win.
“We came into this tournament as the least experienced team, we were one of the youngest teams in it. But we said that we’re an improving side who want to make our own history,” Southgate said on Friday.
“We’ve already had our first knockout win in 12 years, our first win in a penalty shootout in a World Cup for England, the highest number of goals scored in an individual game.”
“We want to keep making that history,” he added. “We know that it’s not since 1990 we were in a World Cup semifinal. We’re hugely ambitious and want to do that, but we know there’s nothing in our mind other than tomorrow’s game.
England have a poor record against Sweden in competitive fixtures, their 3-2 victory in the group stage at Euro 2012 represents the only success in eight previous meetings.