Gareth Southgate's England side take on Sweden in Samara on Saturday afternoon with a place in the semi-finals at stake and the excitement levels are at boiling point.

In the Samara Arena, situated on the banks of the River Volga in a far-flung corner of the sprawling Russian Motherland, an England team made history.

England have booked their place in the semi-finals at the World Cup and it was all down to hard work on and off the pitch throughout the tournament, says BBC pundit Alan Shearer. 

It was another memorable victory for England as they beat Sweden 2-0 to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 28 years. 

ROB DRAPER IN SAMARA: Make no mistake. In the Samara Arena, situated on the banks of the River Volga in a far-flung corner of Russia, an England team made history.

Bluewater in Kent, one of the country's biggest shopping centres was like a ghost town. The usually bustling indoor shopping street saw barely anyone frequent the big name high street chains.

Steve McManaman has correctly guessed 12 out of 14 World Cup knockout stage games in Russia and believes that France will go on to win the tournament on Sunday afternoon.

Turkey substitute Emre Akbaba got two late goals to snatch a stunning 3-2 win over Sweden in the Nations League as the visitors recovered from two goals down at the Friends Arena on Monday.

The 33-year-old former Wigan Athletic centre-back has been key to Sweden 's impressive defensive record and captained his country at the World Cup forming a partnership with United's Victor Lindelof.

Republic of Ireland made it back-to-back Euro 2020 qualifying wins after Conor Hourihane's first-half free-kick proved enough to see off Georgia at the Aviva Stadium.

You know a match is perhaps not the most interesting when the key moment is a second half substitute. This was the case in Sweden, as the sub almost poked his own eye out while coming on.

Sergio Ramos equalled Iker Casillas' record of 167 caps for Spain as they thrashed the Faroe Islands 4-0 in a Euro 2020 qualifier on Sunday night.

Sergio Reguilon, Pau Torres and Gerard Moreno were handed call-ups on Friday after being named in coach Robert Moreno's squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against Norway and Sweden.

PETE JENSON: Martin Odegaard used to train with Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo through the week and then play with the B-team Real Madrid Castilla at the weekends.

Spanish papers have heaped praise on Sergio Ramos as the captain looks set to break Iker Casillas' record by winning his 168th cap for Spain.

Alexander Isak has been compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic since racing on the scene at 16. He turned down Real Madrid as a youngster and is now showing his true potential with Real Sociedad.

Jo Konta took exception to being asked if she would 'offer her services' to Andy Murray in the Wimbledon mixed doubles, saying it made her sound 'like a hooker'. The British No 1 reacted with shock.

LAURA LAMBERT AT EASTBOURNE: Jo Konta sailed through the opening round at the Eastbourne International on Sunday to keep her Wimbledon preparations on track.

Sydney-born Konta, 28, moved to Eastbourne in East Sussex with her Hungarian parents when she was 14-years-old.

Heather Watson is part of a new crop of players that have recently re-energised the British game. Katie Nicholl meets the British tennis star who's aceing it on and off Centre Court

There is plenty of British interest on the second day at Wimbledon - and Sportsmail is here to bring you all the action once again. JAMES DUTTON keeps you up to date.

It's another exciting day of action at Wimbledon - and Sportsmail is once again on hand to guide you through everything. Day four includes the likes of Rafael Nadal, Jo Konta and Andy Murray!

Johanna Konta knows she faces an 'inspired' opponent in Petra Kvitova in the last 16 at Wimbledon on Monday. Czech sixth seed Kvitova has breezed into the fourth round.

MIKE DICKSON ON CENTRE COURT: It started with the Centre Court crowd tittering at the velvety baritone of umpire Nouni, and ended with them roaring Konta into the quarter finals.

British Number One Johanna Konta said people have told her they 'want her to die', but tries to cut herself off from it by getting a member of her team to delete hurtful comments and block trolls.

Jo Konta left Wimbledon on Tuesday night bitterly disappointed, a Grand Slam semi-final appearance spurned. She also walked away with £294,000. Rewards come with scrutiny.

Most of us appreciate the value of a good night's sleep, but how much would you pay to wake up feeling refreshed and restored each day?

Johanna Konta suffered a first-round defeat at the Rogers Cup in Toronto as the British No 1 was beaten in straight sets by 19-year-old Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska.

MIKE DICKSON IN NEW YORK: Konta is relishing big tournaments like never before this year, and she clocked her twelfth victory in the Grand Slams this season by reaching the US Open third round.

MIKE DICKSON IN NEW YORK: Jo Konta emerged again as the last surviving British player when she powered into the last 16 of the US Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over China's Shuai Zhang.

MIKE DICKSON IN NEW YORK: Martina Navratilova described the British No 1's performance in beating China's Zhuai Shang on Friday night as 'A-plus' as she prepares to take on Karolina Pliskova next.

MIKE DICKSON IN NEW YORK: Words with negative connotations are out when it comes to the work she does with Dimitri Zavialoff. The hairdryer is strictly confined to the hotel room.

On his first visit to Scotland, Mr Johnson told the SNP leader the UK would leave the EU on Halloween. He was booed by protesters in Edinburgh.

Nicola Sturgeon warned that Jeremy Corbyn would have to take a 'very firm anti-Brexit position' in order for the parties to work together.

John McDonnell has been accused of treating Jeremy Corbyn 'like a puppet' amid claims he failed to warn the Labour leader the party would not block a second Scottish independence referendum.

Caroline Lucas has written to ten female MPs calling for an all-women Cabinet. The Green MP proposes a cross-party female leadership team to deliver a new referendum after winning a confidence vote.

Labour was last night accused of betraying the Union to get Jeremy Corbyn into No10 after it crawled over to the SNP and offered them a second independence referendum.

Labour looked set to stop Boris Johnson's plans for an early election last night following talks with the SNP. The parties are thought to have agreed an election can only come after a Brexit extension.

The Scottish Labour leader today fired a public broadside at Jeremy Corbyn as he warned him not to agree a back room deal with the SNP to get into power.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon broke ranks with other Remainers by suggesting that a confidence vote to oust Boris Johnson should be held before an extension is secured.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said today that any vote of no confidence would have to come after a crunch EU summit in three weeks time otherwise ex-Tory Remainer rebels would not back it.

Labour has been stepping up the pressure for opposition parties to back Jeremy Corbyn as head of a 'unity' government to avoid No Deal Brexit.

Piers Morgan challenged Nicola  Sturgeon to 'suck it up' comparing her defeat in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum to Scotland's rugby loss to Japan yesterday.

The State Opening of Parliament saw Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn engage in one of the newer political traditions today - the awkward silent walk to the Lords.

Nicola Sturgeon today issued a fresh rallying cry for Scottish independence as she claimed the SNP is 'winning the case' for a split from the rest of the UK, but Downing Street was quick to rebuff her.

The Labour leader was effectively given no choice but to cave in and back the PM's bill for a snap poll after it became clear it had Liberal Democrat and SNP support.

The scale of infighting within Labour was underlined last night when more than 100 of Jeremy Corbyn's own MPs ignored his orders to back holding a snap election.

The first minister of Scotland said that her party's message would be 'clear, simple and unambiguous - vote SNP to demand independence and secure Scotland's right to choose'.

Jeremy Corbyn said he last spoke to Ms Sturgeon around 10 days ago, insisting as leaders they had to speak regularly.

Jeremy Corbyn is ready to 'throw the UK under a bus' by forming a coalition with the SNP that would break up Britain, Michael Gove has warned. He said that Labour and the SNP were now 'in bed together'.