England’s potential route to the final after penalty shootout win over Colombia in the last-16

The wave of World Cup heavyweight exits over the weekend has left England fans daring to dream that football might just be coming home, and with the dramatic penalty shootout win over Colombia, those dreams have got closer to being real.

Fifty-two years since England’s only World Cup success, fans could only watch on with half a smile on their face as Spain crashed out of Russia 2018 in a penalty shootout defeat against Russia, resulting in the only other previous World Cup winners in the lower half of the draw catching an early flight home.

This was boosted by the dramatic exits of Argentina and Portugal over the weekend as both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo missed out on their World Cup dream in respective defeats by France and Uruguay.

That left England needing to do their bit against Colombia, which they duly did with the 4-3 shootout win after the game ended 1-1 after extra-time in Moscow.

READ MORE: England beat Colombia on penalties to reach quarter finals

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And they can’t afford to get ahead of themselves either, with France, Uruguay and Brazil all left in the other half of the draw – although only one of those sides can face England if they reach the final.

But England’s start to the tournament has injected a rarely-seen confidence in their fans which has only been exacerbated with their first ever penalty shootout win in a World Cup and Sweden awaiting them in the quarter-final.

With that in mind, here’s England’s potential route to the final, based on the Fifa world rankings to determine who they will face.

Quarter-finals vs Sweden, Saturday 7 July, 15:00

Sweden's Emil Forsberg celebrates scoring the winner against Switzerland (Reuters)

Had the World Cup gone according to the Fifa rankings, Switzerland would have been ready and waiting for Southgate's side. But as has been proven so many times already this tournament, underdogs Sweden pulled off an upset as Emil Forsberg's goal saw off the Swiss and booked their place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1994. Having pushed Germany close and thrashed Mexico, Sweden have already proven to be a side not to be underestimated.

Semi-finals vs Croatia, Wednesday 11 July, 19:00

Croatia and Russia are on the horizon as semi-final opponents (EPA)

Spain's loss to hosts Russia has blown the draw wide open. The home favourites did so with a resolute defensive performance before a shoot-out win. The question now is can they live with the creativity of Croatia and the brilliant Luka Modric?

Final vs Brazil, Sunday 15 July, 16:00

There may be no avoiding five-time World Cup winners Brazil in the final (Reuters)

There's just no avoiding Brazil, the highest-ranked team left in the competition after Germany's exit. The South Americans would have to get past Mexico, Belgium and France to get this far, but they have the pedigree to do it.