England

The result avenged their loss to England in the Commonwealth Games final earlier this year.

Trailing 14-9 late in the first quarter, Australia outscored England 15-10 in each of the the two middle terms to take control of the match.

They had a seven goal third quarter buffer slashed to two inside the last four minutes, but steadied down the stretch to beat England in the first clash between the nations since the Commonwealth Games.

Cecchin, who disallowed a try that would have given Tonga an upset win, has told The Sydney Morning Herald he was in an Auckland bar when police rang to tell him they had contacted him and several family members that had been targeted.

He was advised not the leave the hotel and told he would be picked up and taken to the airport.

On his return to Australia, he was picked up by the Australian Federal Police.

He also flicked through his phone to discover more than a thousand "vile" attacks, the likes of which he had never encountered across his entire career.

The German-owned supermarket chain has reserved spots for the Three Lions, ensuring the likes of Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford and Kieran Trippier can shop hassle-free in their hometowns.

Kane's image adorns a space at Lidl's Chingford store, just a few miles from where the World Cup Golden Boot winner went to school, while manager Southgate can find his own parking spot in his hometown of Crawley.

Having fallen one match shy of a maiden final appearance in Tuesday's slim 1-0 defeat to France, the Red Devils' vaunted golden generation lifted themselves off the canvass to improve upon the fourth-place finish managed by Enzo Scifo, Jan Ceulemans and company in 1986.

Meunier was the unlikely hero early on as his close-range finish in the opening exchanges denied England what would have been their best tournament result since lifting the trophy 52 years ago.

England made an electric start with Kieran Trippier's early goal and for a large period of the game looked good value to book their passage to the final for the first time since 1966, but Croatia somehow battled through their apparent jadedness to tame the Three Lions, Mandzukic landing the decisive blow.

Gareth Southgate consistently downplayed the euphoria in his team in the build-up, and for a while England gave every indication they were going to take charge of their own destiny, as Trippier found the net with a delightful free-kick in the fifth minute.

For the first time in 28 years – and only the third time in history – an England team will be present in the last-four at football's global showpiece, Gareth Southgate's team having seen off Sweden in Saturday's quarter-final.

Croatia stand in the way of the Three Lions and a place in the final, the two nations going head-to-head in Moscow on Wednesday to earn the right to face France or Belgium.

England's progress is a long way from their group-stage exit at the last edition of the World Cup in Brazil, and their shock defeat to Iceland in the Euro 2016 round of 16.

Maguire and Alli struck either side of half-time in Samara on Saturday to move the Three Lions into the last four, and they will face either Croatia or hosts Russia on Wednesday.

England dominated after making a slow start, Maguire scoring from Ashley Young's left-wing corner after half an hour to put Gareth Southgate's side on track. 

Jordan Pickford made tremendous saves to deny Marcus Berg and Viktor Claesson either side of Alli doubling England's lead, the midfielder nodding in Jesse Lingard's centre.

Janne Andersson's side have had less possession than their opponents in three out of their four matches at the World Cup so far, relying on their strong defensive structure to keep teams at bay.

That tactic has worked well, and if not for Toni Kroos' sublime free-kick in the last minute of the Group F clash with Germany, Sweden would have an undefeated record in Russia.

And Granqvist, who has scored twice from the penalty spot, claims Sweden have no plans to change how they set up when it comes to facing England in Samara on Saturday.

Gareth Southgate's men had all but beaten Colombia, only to throw it away and then conjure up a second victory on a long, draining night in Moscow.

If that wasn't remarkable enough, the fact they did on a penalty shoot-out is bordering on the downright bizarre.

Italia '90, France '98 and Germany in 2006 had all ended in recriminations and tears. But Russia 2018 had a happier ending.

In truth, it was no more than England deserved.

Having been fouled by Carlos Sanchez, Kane - after a lengthy delay caused by Colombia's protests to referee Mark Geiger - duly kept his cool to break the deadlock from 12 yards.

It brought up the Tottenham star's sixth goal of the tournament, and also saw England's captain equal Tommy Lawton's 79-year-old record.

Kane's strike also sees the 24-year-old match Lionel Messi's total record of World Cup goals, on his debut at the tournament.