England advance to World Cup semifinals with win over Sweden

England is into the semifinals of the World Cup for the first time in 28 years after they beat Sweden 2-0 on Saturday.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – England is into the semifinals of the World Cup for the first time in 28 years after they beat Sweden 2-0 on Saturday.

After a cagey start to the match, England scored first when defender Harry Maguire rose highest to head the ball in from a corner kick on 30 minutes.

The English doubled their lead on 59 minutes with another header, this time from midfielder Dele Alli.

Sweden looked promising, especially in the second-half, but couldn’t beat England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford who made a string of important saves.

Meanwhile, hosts Russia were knocked out of the tournament after losing a penalty shootout to Croatia in Saturday’s other quarterfinal game.

Russia scored first through Denis Cheryshev on 31 minutes before Croatia's Andrej Kramaric equalized eight minutes later.

Neither team was able to break the deadlock after 90 minutes, and the game was forced into extra time.

Croatia took the lead in the 101st minute when Domagoj Vida scored, but Russia would not give up and leveled the score in the 115th minute through Mario Fernandes.

Penalties were required to settle the tie with Croatia coming out on top, winning 4-3.

Croatia will play England in the semifinals while France takes on Belgium.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup takes place between June 14 and July 15 with 32 teams from five different confederations competing.

The tournament has produced some shocking results, including the unexpected exit of defending champions Germany at the group stage as well as early exits for tournament favorites Portugal, Argentina, and Brazil.

The semifinals will be played on July 10 and 11 at 9:00 p.m. Erbil time.

The final will be played on July 15 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow at 6:00 p.m. Erbil time.