Round of 16 Recaps: Sweden Get Lucky Against the Swiss, England Prevail in PKs

The final day of Round of 16 matches this World Cup ended with two close games. First up was the Sweden-Switzerland match. Switzerland, with only l loss in their last 25 games, were the slight favorite, and had a great chance in the opening seconds when Xherdan Shaqiri blasted a shot wide. Blerim Dzemaili had a shot that went right at Swedish keeper Robin Olsen in the 7th minute. In the 28th, a loose ball in the Swiss box landed to Marcus Berg, and Swiss keeper Yann Sommer kept out the low, bouncing ball from Berg. Before the half ended, both Switzerland and Sweden had one of their players missed a "sure" tap-in from a clever pass, both missing the frame and going well over the bar. In the 49th, Ola Toivonen of Sweden had a blast well over the bar, but Sweden would get the first goal in the 66th. Emil Forsberg's low driven shot looked to go directly to Sommer, but Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji deflected it with his foot, wrong footing Sommer, with the ball going into the left side of the net. Switzerland, who were missing two of their defenders due to yellow card accumulation, including their captain found themselves behind. Forsberg then blocked Breel Embolo's header, followed by Andreas Granqvist clearing it off the line in the 78th minute. Haris Seferovic had a header that Olsen kept out in the 91st, and soon Switzerland would themselves down a man when Michael Lang brought down Martin Olsson just outside the box on purpose to prevent a goal. On the last play of the game, Sommer blocked the ensuing free kick, and Sweden moved on.

Finally, the last quarterfinal spot came down to the winner between Colombia and England. James Rodriguez, Colombia's star player, was unable to play due to injury and was forced to watch in the front row of select stadium seats. In the 16th, WC 2018 leading scorer Harry Kane had a chance for England, but his header went over the goal. After a lot of physical fouls, especially by Colombia, Juan Quintero had a long shot right at English keeper Jordan Pickford. to end the half. In the 54th, Kane won a PK for England when he got dragged down in the box by Carlos Sanchez when the ball from the corner flag came near him. Kane converted the PK to bring his WC scoring tally to six. Colombia had trouble finding an equalizer, and kept fouling England, including a foul on Jesse Lingard in their box, but there was no penalty for England. In the 87th, Radamel Falcao had a shot from far out stopped by Pickford, and then a corner came for Colombia in the 90+3 minute. There, Yerry Mina got the tying goal, heading the ball down, and while England's Kieran Trippier tried to clear it, it hit the underside of the crossbar and in. This forced extra time, where the first 15 minutes of it led to more physical play between the two teams. Colombia dictated most of these 30 additional minutes, but in the 112th, England's Danny Rose had a shot from a tough angle just go wide of frame. Six minutes later, Colombian keeper David Ospina punched out an English free kick, and the game went to penalties. There, Colombia went first and Falcao put home the initial PK. Kane tied it at 1-1 with his attempt, and Juan Cuadrado, Marcus Rashford, and Luis Muriel converted theirs. Ospina denied Jordan Henderson's shot to make it 3-2, but had a chance to tie it when Mateus Uribe hit his off the bar. Trippier made it 3-3 after 4 rounds. In the fifth round, Carlos Bacca's shot was denied by Pickford, and Eric Dier sealed England's spot in the quarters, placing the ball right under Ospina's left hand.

The English football team reacts to Bacca's missed shot.