England beat Colombia on penalties to progress to World Cup quarter finals
England dramatically beat Colombia on penalties in Moscow on Tuesday night.
Harry Kane gave England the lead from the penalty spot in the second-half of a fiery encounter but they were denied in injury-time when defender Yerry Mina rose highest to head home a corner to level the scores to send the match into extra-time and eventually a penalty shootout.
Jordan Henderson saw his spot-kick saved by goalkeeper David Ospina but the Mateus Uribe then hit the crossbar with the next spot-kick. Kieran Trippier levelled the scores before Jordan Pickford spurned a Carlos Bacca effort and then Eric Dier stepped up to seal the win.
The victory will somewhat exorcise manager Gareth Southgate's ghosts of being the man who missed the crucial penalty in the Euro '96 semi-final loss to Germany and England had not won a shootout since.
England will now face Sweden on Saturday at 3pm BST in the quarter final, after the Scandinavians beat Switzerland earlier on Tuesday.
Manager Gareth Southgate had a full squad to select from, picking the fit-again Dele Alli ahead of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who had started the previous two matches.
Colombia are without James Rodriguez who does not make the squad after limping out of their final group game against Senegal.
Colombia supporters are outnumbering their English counterparts in Moscow, which could make it a hostile atmosphere for Gareth Southgate's side.
England's first notable chance arrived in the 16th minute when Kane got on the end of a Kieran Trippier cross but only succeeded in heading over from a narrow angle.
England looked the better of the two teams in the opening stages, as Colombia looked to break on their European opponents.
There was controversy five minutes before the break when Colombia's Wilmar Barrios appeared to headbutt England midfielder Jordan Henderson while part of a man-wall.
After reflection by the referees and VAR, it was deemed only worthy of a yellow, much to the England team's frustration.
Colombia did not trouble England goalkeeper Pickford until injury-time in the first-half when Juan Quintero shot went straight at the Everton stopper.
The game was goalless at the break but England were the more dominant force during the opening 45 minutes.
Colombia seemed to be doing their level best to rile the England team with some aggressive play on and off the ball.
England took the lead from the penalty spot in the 57th minute after Kane scored from the spot. The striker was the man fouled in the box when Carlos Sanchez held him from a corner.
Juan Cuadrado had a chance to equaliser when he was played through on goal with 10 minutes to go but he blazed his shot over from inside the box.
Although there was no mistake in injury-time when Mina headed home his third header of the tournament from a corner after Pickford had turned a Mateus Uribe shot wide of the post.
The extra-time went without incident until the shootout when Dier became the hero to win England's first shootout since Euro 1996 when they defeated Spain.
Kane and substitute Marcus Rashford netted from the spot before Henderson's failed shot, but Trippier and Dier kept their cool to ensure the tie with Sweden.
Pickford told ITV Sport: "I've got that power and agility to get around the goal - I don't care if I'm not the biggest keeper, I've got that power and agility and I'm very good at (penalties)."
England had researched Colombia's penalty takers beforehand and Pickford said: "We had a fair feeling, and Falcao was the only one who didn't go his (usual) way."
Dier said of Pickford: "He was incredible, he's a fantastic goalkeeper and he was fantastic in the penalty shootout. He's been fantastic in training for them and he's taken it into the game."
On his own pressure moment, the Tottenham midfielder added: "It was a nervous one, I've never had a situation like that before.
"I felt like I had to score after the header I missed at the end (of extra time), and I'm just thankful I scored that one."
The players made the effort to return to the pitch to celebrate with the travelling support to Moscow, as they showed unity with the fans in Russia.
Colombia picked up six yellow cards during the match and were lucky not to have a player dismissed.
Asked if the opposition's approach was unexpected, Southgate said: "I don't know if I 'didn't expect it' but we didn't rise to it, which was brilliant. A couple of times we lost our cool a little bit but generally speaking we kept our nerve.
"Our fans that were here were brilliant but it was almost an away game, so to deal with all of that was exceptional.
"It's something the players can always look back on now and draw on as an experience.
"We've talked about creating their own stories and creating their own history and we've done a little bit of that tonight. We go to a quarter-final, but I don't want to go home yet."