England reaches semifinals, beats Sweden

The win sets up the first semifinal appearance since 1990 in Torino

SAMARA, Russia — England achieved something David Beckham’s generation never managed: It reached the semifinals of the World Cup.

Harry Maguire and Dele Alli scored with headers in a 2-0 win over Sweden on Saturday, earning England’s youthful team a match against Croatia for a place in the final on July 15.

“We looked composed,” England captain Harry Kane said. “We looked like we controlled the game.”

England’s fairly muted celebrations reflected the routine nature of the victory over a hardworking Swedish side that had already gone further than expected in its first major tournament without Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

England’s deep run also is a surprise. Not even the England side containing stars like Beckham, Steven

England 2 Sweden 0

Gerrard and a young Wayne Rooney ever got this far at a major tournament.

The 1966 World Cup champions last reached the semifinals in 1990, losing the first of a series of haunting penalty shootouts. In 2014, the team didn’t even make it out of the group stage.

Yet the performances of Gareth Southgate’s squad — the second youngest at the tournament — are being celebrated wildly back home. Even at Wimbledon, the home of lawn tennis, updates of England’s goals were spread by fans watching or listening to the

ASSOCIATED PRESS ENGLAND’S HARRY MAGUIRE celebrates after scoring his side opening goal during the quarterfinal match between Sweden and England at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Samara Arena, in Samara, Russia on Saturday.