Colombia vs England odds preview, predicted line-ups, stats, key players to watch

Tuesday 3rd July

Kick-off: 7:00pm ITV

Stadium: Okritie Arena Moscow

Live on ITV1

Colombia vs England odds

The Colombia vs England odds had Gareth Southgate’s men as 8/15 favourites to qualify for last eight, with their South American opponents 6/4 to triumph.

The Three Lions were victorious on the night, meaning that England face Sweden in the quarter finals.

It s 6/5 that the English get the job done without recourse to extra time, whereas Colombia are an eyebrow-raisingly large 11/4 and the additional-half-hour-triggering draw is priced up at 2/1.

Colombia vs England team news

News from the Columbian camp is that the injury to talisman James Rodriguez is not as severe as initially thought, meaning the odds are that he could play against England.

An MRI scan revealed swelling to the calf caused by a collection of fluid, though there is no muscle tear.

Rodriguez was side lined for their opening group H defeat to Japan due to this troublesome calf injury, returning in fine form for their 3-0 win against Poland. He was then withdrawn after 60 minutes against Senegal with the same problem.

Los Cafeteros midfielder Abel Aguilar has been back in training after missing their clash with Senegal with injury and the odds are he will be available for selection.

Fellow midfielder Wilmar Barrios could come in with Colombia wary of surrendering space behind the lines to England.

England head into the match without any injury concerns. Gareth Southgate should have a full squad at his disposal heading into the last 16 match, having rested eight of their first team player during the 1-0 defeat against Belgium.

The defeat means that the Three Lions will now face a Colombia side ranked 16th on FIFA Global Rankings, rather than a 61st placed Japan they’d be facing had they beaten the Red Devils. 

Tottenham number ten Dele Alli is available for selection after having missed the group games against Panama and Belgium. It’s expected that the 22-year-old will be restored to a starting line-up that (himself apart) mirrors the one Southgate sent out against Panama.

Colombia vs England match stats

England bested their round of 16 opponents in the sides’ sole previous World Cup encounter, with strikes from Darren Anderton and David Beckham sealing a 2-0 win in the group stages of the 1998 tournament.

That was the last time Los Cafeteros failed to score in a match at the World Cup finals. They’ve bagged in each of their subsequent eight outings at the tournament, the longest run without a blank of any side in the competition at the end of the 2018 group stage.

Not one of Colombia’s 21 previous World Cup finals games has ended goalless, while the Three Lions have only failed to net in one of their previous 18 knockout outings at the tournament. The Colombia vs England odds on both teams to score are 6/5.

England have won just two of their past eight knockout games at the tournament (v Denmark in 2002 and Ecuador in 2006) and a nerve-shredding 50% of their knockout games at the tournament, since (and including) the 1966 World Cup final, have gone to extra-time (seven out of 14). The England to win in extra time odds are 10/1.

Three were decided on penalties, with all three shootouts going the way of their adversaries (Germany 1990, Argentina 1998, Portugal 2006). Colombia can be backed to win on penalties at odds of 9/1.

Colombia vs England key players to watch

Rumoured Tottenham, Real Madrid and Wolves (yes Wolves) transfer target Juan Quintero has been directly involved in three of the South Americans’ five goals so far in Russia, scoring in their opening fixture and assisting goals against Poland and Japan.

Harry Kane has played just 153 minutes at World Cup finals, but already only Gary Lineker (ten) has netted more England goals at tournament than the Spurs striker (5). If Kane justifies odds of 6/5 in bagging anytime against Los Cafeteros, he’ll become the first Englishman to score in six consecutive games for their country since Tommy Lawton back in 1939.

Gareth Southgate said: “I feel like we’ve started to connect the team with the public again.

“I feel like we’ve created excitement, like we’ve played in a style that has really shown an expression of what young English players are capable of, and I want us to continue doing that.”