World Cup - Dele and England head for history

Dele Alli became the fifth Spurs player to score at this summer’s World Cup as England roared into the semi-finals for only the third time in history with a 2-0 victory over Sweden on Saturday afternoon.

The midfielder timed his run to perfection to nod in Jesse Lingard’s cross at the back post and double the Three Lions’ lead in Samara, after Leicester City defender Harry Maguire had headed them in front in the first period.

Dele’s goal arrived in the 58th minute and made the 22-year-old England’s second-youngest World Cup goalscorer of all time behind an 18-year-old Michael Owen in 1998.

Four of our five players in the squad featured in Saturday’s historic quarter-final victory – Kieran Trippier once again put in a sensational shift from the start at right wing-back while skipper Harry Kane also impressed with his hold-up play over the 90 minutes. Dele started before being replaced by Fabian Delph on 77 minutes while Eric Dier came on for Jordan Henderson in midfield five minutes from time. Danny Rose remained on the bench.

England’s previous two semi-final appearances came in 1966 when they famously lifted the World Cup, while they also made the last four in 1990. They’ll play the winners of host nation Russia v Croatia this time around, kick-off 7pm UK time on Wednesday.

The other semi will be contested by Hugo Lloris’ France and a Belgium side that includes Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen on Tuesday (7pm UK).

Harry remains two clear in the race for the Golden Boot with six goals so far at the tournament, while South Korea’s Heung-Min Son (2), Christian Eriksen of Denmark and Jan have also hit the target during this most thrilling of campaigns in Russia. Eric and Kieran joined Harry in scoring in the penalty shootout that saw England get past Colombia in the last 16 on Tuesday.