An impressive England advance to their first World Cup semifinal for 28 years on Saturday after headers by Harry Maguire and Dele Alli give them a deserved 2-0 last-eight victory over a disappointing Sweden.

South America will be absent from the World Cup semi-finals for the fifth time in the tournament's history after the continent's top players either fails to excel or sufferes injuries at key moments during the tournament in Russia.

England coach Gareth Southgate names an unchanged side for Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Sweden following their penalty shootout victory over Colombia in the last round.

"Everyone thinks Romelu Lukaku is just about goals, goals, goals, but I want to be seen as an all-rounder" says Lukaku.

Belgium ended Brazil's dream of a sixth World Cup title when they beat the South Americans 2-1 in a dramatic, enthralling end-to-end quarter-final on Friday to earn a semi-final tie against France.

Raphael Varane's glancing header and a goalkeeping blunder that gifted Antoine Griezmann a soft goal gave France a 2-0 victory over Uruguay in the first World Cup quarter-final on Friday.

Diego Maradona apologises to FIFA and its referees for saying that England's last 16 win over Colombia in the World Cup was a robbery and that referee Mark Geiger is not up to the task.

Surez comes to Uruguay's World Cup quarter-final against France on Friday an all-together wiser and maturer, albeit lacking a bit of the spark and speed of his earlier days.

John Stones says Colombia are the "dirtiest team" and is glad England's new-found streetwise streak helped knock the South Americans out of the World Cup.

With many of Manchester City's players still competing in the later stages of the World Cup, the influence of Pep Guardiola’s English champions is being felt across the globe.

Brazil now play like an European side with Brazilian talent and the man behind this change is their coach Tite, who above all emphasises balance.

It was the eleventh minute of extra time in Russia's tense victory over Spain when the unlikely stars of the show emerged: three Russia fans shown on national TV snacking on hotdogs in the stands.

"We were hardly competing internationally, We had to travel to the most distant parts of the world just to have matches." Tabarez says on an interview.

Brazil names Miranda as their captain for the World Cup quarter-final against Belgium.

World Cup fever in England will not extend to weddings round the country with those tempted to glance at their mobile phones during the match with Sweden facing a red card.

Japan's football chief take aim at critics of the Blue Samurai after the team's World Cup return and confirms he is on the lookout for a new coach.

"Sweden are not playing the best football in the world, but to score against them is very difficult." says Eriksson.

French forward Antoine Griezmann has always been an admirer of Uruguayan culture and previously stated he is half Uruguayan. But Uruguay striker Luis Suarez do not think so, as he says that on a press conference.

Brazil are the favourites in what Belgium coach Roberto Martinez describes as a "dream match" for his players when the two countries meet in a World Cup quarter-final in Kazan on Friday.

The support of Russian fans may help the Russian national team in its 2018 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal clash against Croatia, Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subasic says.