Steven Gerrard is confident England can beat Sweden in their World Cup quarter-final because they no longer have a maverick such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

After a nerve-racking penalty shootout victory against Colombia, England are in a buoyant mood and triumph against Sweden would set them up with a semi-final clash against either Croatia or Russia.

The last time a Scandinavian nation beat England in the World cup the reaction from Norwegian commentator Bjørge Lillelien was pretty un-Scandinavian to say the least.

Gareth Southgate's England side take on Sweden in Samara on Saturday afternoon with a place in the semi-finals at stake and the excitement levels are at boiling point.

The hours are ticking down to England's World Cup quarter-final against Sweden and the fans are in Samara soaking up the atmosphere ahead of their biggest game in a generation.

In the Samara Arena, situated on the banks of the River Volga in a far-flung corner of the sprawling Russian Motherland, an England team made history.

SAMI MOKBEL AT THE SAMARA ARENA: Goals by Harry Maguire and Dele Alli capped off a relatively comfortable afternoon for England and they now await either Croatia or host Russia in the last four.

It was an eventful game on the pitch but there were a number of events taking place off it as well. From a spare Gareth Southgate in the stands to how fans tried to keep up to date at wedding ceremonies.

England have booked their place in the semi-finals at the World Cup and it was all down to hard work on and off the pitch throughout the tournament, says BBC pundit Alan Shearer. 

It was another memorable victory for England as they beat Sweden 2-0 to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 28 years. 

ROB DRAPER IN SAMARA: Make no mistake. In the Samara Arena, situated on the banks of the River Volga in a far-flung corner of Russia, an England team made history.

Bluewater in Kent, one of the country's biggest shopping centres was like a ghost town. The usually bustling indoor shopping street saw barely anyone frequent the big name high street chains.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic appears to be ready to hold up his end of the bargain he has with David Beckham after his beloved Sweden were knocked out of the World Cup by England on Saturday.

ADAM SHERGOLD AT WHITEHALL STADIUM: England ended their Under 17s European Championship campaign on a winning note but it wasn’t enough to carry them to the quarter-finals.

Pep Guardiola has maintained he cannot be held responsible if £49million defender John Stones misses out on Euro 2020 due to a lack of game time at Manchester City.

EUAN McCOLM: English voters wonder why Boris Johnson is bothering with Scotland as its health service is ailing and school attainment has dropped by more than a third due to changes by the SNP.

The SNP won 35 seats in 2017 but managed to secure 12 more at the general election last week - a surge which has bolstered Ms Sturgeon's calls for a second breakaway ballot.

The Labour leadership challenger made the comment at a hustings event last week and provoked fury from the party as she labelled its members 'Tories wrapped up in nationalist clothing'.

Since the shambolic viewings four years ago, England have started to assemble a side capable of going all the way and Southgate deserves credit for putting faith in the next generation.

Ray Quinn, who shot to fame on reality shows The X Factor and Dancing On Ice, proposed to his girlfriend Emily Fletcher over New Year's.

Megan McKenna, 27, made an appearance at The British Takeaway Awards at The Savoy Hotel in London on Monday, looking glamorous as ever in a metallic gown.

The former X Factor judge, 35, admitted that falling ill after cycling for eight hours in 'oven like' temperatures of up to 35 degrees centigrade

While she waited with bent knees, former X Factor star Olly climbed on top of her before leaning backwards and resting his entire body weight onto his girlfriend.

An Australian cruise ship has been forced to evacuate 2,000 passengers in Singapore after a contagious virus caused mass vomiting and diarrhoea.

It's called Access and has been created by London-based Acumen Design Associates and Singapore-based ST Engineering. It can be retrofitted or line-fitted to both A321 and B737 aircraft.

Arrivals streaming off flights from Dallas, Santiago and Singapore in the wake of the draconian measures descended on the domestic terminal, as usual, to catch connecting flights around the country.

Penguins at Singapore zoo are making the most of the country's partial virus lockdown, being given free run of the empty complex and revelling in the chance to do some exploring.

Sportsmail provide you with full fixtures, kick-off times, TV coverage and how Wales, England or Ireland can win the 2019 Six Nations in the final round.

Get ready for the final round of the 2019 Six Nations with everything on the line for England, Wales and Ireland as they look to win the title. Sportsmail will provide details of dates, KO times and channels.

England coach Eddie Jones emphatically ruled out coaching the British & Irish Lions in 2021, while taking a swipe at Wales counterpart Warren Gatland.

England want all three available to take on Ireland to offset any need to pitch Billy Vunipola into a third Test in as many weeks. All three trained on Wednesday at England's Pennyhill Park camp.

Johnny Sexton has missed out on Ireland's World Cup warm-up clash with England at Twickenham on Saturday. The fly-half sat out of training at the start of the week in Portugal.

England have reverted to the 10-12 alliance of George Ford and captain Owen Farrell for Saturday's clash against Ireland at Twickenham, in a line-up featuring nine changes.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: It is exactly the team I would have picked for a must-win game at the tournament. This is the first time he has put his full strength side out in these warm-up games.

CHRIS FOY AT TWICKENHAM: The match tickets proclaimed 'this is no warm-up' and on a scorching, record-breaking day here, Manu Tuilagi and England proved too hot to handle.

RORY KEANE: This Ireland squad were primed to reach a first-ever World Cup semi-final, and possibly more. But they have been seemingly in free-fall since the events of February 2 at the Aviva.

One week and 12 matches in the Rugby World Cup and we have our first rest day, which seems a natural time to take stock ahead of a jam-packed weekend. Here is our team of the week...

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: This game will be massive. So far in Anglo-Australian encounters at World Cups we have one victory apiece in the final, two England quarter-final wins and two Aussie pool wins.

WORLD CUP DIARY BY WILL KELLEHER: England v Wales is not quite the intense rivalry of old off the field any more. Some club-mates have been meeting up for coffees.

RORY KEANE AT TOKYO STADIUM: Dear, oh dear. Ireland's abysmal record in World Cup quarter finals continued in Tokyo as a rampant All Blacks outfit romped to a seven-try victory.

WILL KELLEHER AT THE AVIVA STADIUM: Johnny Sexton cannot wait to exact revenge on England after two recent thrashings when unbeaten Ireland travel to Twickenham next.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: All eyes on England's next game against Ireland, and what a prospect that is. But I suspect history will show victory over the Scots to ultimately be more important.

England will bottle the feeling of seeing Ireland win the Six Nations Grand Slam at Twickenham two years ago and use it this week, according to George Ford.

Brian O'Driscoll has accused Eddie Jones of 'scaremongering' and admitted he relished the sight of the England head coach's comments backfiring so spectacularly against France.

The Irish travel to Twickenham seeking to clinch a second Triple Crown in three years after beginning this year's tournament with successive home wins over Scotland and Wales.

WILL KELLEHER IN DUBLIN: The 59-year-old Bono dropped into the Irish camp to give a rallying speech to Andy Farrell's team ahead of their Six Nations clash with England.

During the Joe Schmidt era, Ireland were renowned for peppering the backfield with high balls from Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray but Eddie Jones insists that England can cope with it.

NIK SIMON'S FORM GUIDE: England have had an up and down Six Nations campaign so far, with one win and one loss, while Ireland are still undefeated at this stage.

MIKE BROWN: You always know when it's an Ireland Test week because the coaches put a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Johnny Sexton in the team dining room.

England earned a crucial Six Nations victory over a disappointing Ireland at Twickenham on Sunday.