A look at England's last 5 World Cup knockout games

Tomorrow will see Gareth Southgate’s England side look for their first victory in a knockout game at a major tournament in over a decade, as they face off with Colombia in the second round of the 2018 World Cup.

Fans of the Three Lions are already dreaming of the final, but they should be wary – England’s record in World Cup knockout games is poor indeed, as they’ve flattered to deceive more often than not in recent years.

With Southgate hoping to change that record against Colombia, here’s a look at England’s last five World Cup knockout games, dating back to the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea.

England 3-0 Denmark – World Cup 2002 Second Round

David Beckham and Emile Heskey starred in England's 2002 World Cup win over Denmark

England’s 2002 World Cup saw a scenario eerily reminiscent of last week’s events and the questions surrounding the correct passage into the knockout stages. In Japan and South Korea it appeared that the Three Lions had lost the momentum they gained in their 1-0 win over Argentina by playing in a largely passive way against Nigeria, drawing 0-0 in the final group fixture and finishing in second place behind Sweden.

A commonly held belief is that England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson instructed his players to simply avoid defeat to Nigeria, knowing that finishing second would set up a supposedly easier second round fixture with Denmark, rather than face a more dangerous Senegal side. Sound familiar? In this case, it turned out Eriksson made the correct call.

England lost no momentum from the Nigeria game and simply swept aside the Danes with a scintillating attacking display in the first half. A fumble from Danish goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen from a Rio Ferdinand header got the ball rolling in just the 5th minute, and 20 minutes later England had a second via Michael Owen after another goalmouth scramble.

Denmark tried to fight back but England’s attacking prowess was too much for them to handle, and by the time Emile Heskey swept in a right-footed shot set up by David Beckham the game was essentially over. While things petered out in the second half, it was undoubtedly one of England’s best displays under Eriksson – and arguably the last time they performed well in a knockout game.

England 1-2 Brazil – World Cup 2002 Quarter Finals

David Seaman and England were beaten by Ronaldinho's free-kick in 2002

The victory over Denmark set up a quarter-final showdown with Brazil for England, with most observers agreeing that it was a meeting between the 2002 World Cup’s two most impressive sides. And incredibly, England got off to an absolutely flying start, as Brazil defender Lucio mis-controlled a loose ball from Emile Heskey, allowing Michael Owen to dart in and fire past goalkeeper Marcos after just 23 minutes.

Struggling with the stifling heat of Shizuoka though, England never seemed truly comfortable with their lead and right before half-time, both Paul Scholes and David Beckham missed tackles, allowing Ronaldinho to dribble through the heart of the English defence and set up a beautifully taken goal by Rivaldo.

In the years since England’s half-time team talk has gone down in legend for all the wrong reasons – current boss Gareth Southgate stated that when the side needed Sven-Goran Eriksson to channel Winston Churchill, he could only deliver Iain Duncan-Smith, and failed to inspire the players.

Sure enough, just 5 minutes after half-time, Brazil took the lead – Ronaldinho scoring directly from a free-kick that was able to deceive goalkeeper David Seaman and fly over his head and into the top right-hand corner. The debate over whether the Brazilian meant to shoot rages on to this day, but it didn’t matter really.

Even when Brazil were reduced to 10 men when Ronaldinho was sent off for a two-footed lunge at Danny Mills, England simply failed to carve out enough chances to secure an equaliser and eventually left the tournament with a whimper rather than a bang. It was a disappointing end to a World Cup that had promised so much.

England 1-0 Ecuador – World Cup 2006 Second Round

David Beckham's free-kick took England past Ecuador in 2006

This shaky win in Stuttgart was the last time any England side were able to win a knockout game at a major tournament. Sven-Goran Eriksson’s ‘Golden Generation’ went to the 2006 World Cup in Germany as one of the heavy favourites, but simply failed to get going and somehow stuttered through a group that contained a pair of minnows in Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago.

One point of contention was that Eriksson’s rigid 4-4-2 formation was failing to get the best out of his attacking midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, and so for this second round fixture with Ecuador, he switched to 4-5-1 with Michael Carrick acting as a holding man behind the two superstars and Wayne Rooney acting as the lone striker.

While England did win, the tactic didn’t work as well as Eriksson had hoped – the Three Lions had a lot of possession but didn’t create a lot and looked clumsy at times, allowing Ecuador a handful of clear chances on goal, and Lampard and Gerrard couldn’t get far enough forward to truly support Rooney.

In the end, it was captain David Beckham who bailed his team out – scoring one of his more underrated goals directly from a free-kick from around 30 yards out with about half an hour remaining. Beckham cleverly whipped the ball up and over the wall, sending it sneaking in at the near post from a low trajectory. England had made it to the quarter-finals, but still hadn’t really played all that well.

England 0-0 Portugal (Portugal won 3-1 on penalties) – World Cup 2006 Quarter Finals

Wayne Rooney was sent off as England were beaten by Portugal in 2006

The European Championships two years prior to the 2006 World Cup saw Portugal send England home via a penalty shoot-out, and that history repeated itself in this quarter-final meeting – the third time that boss Sven-Goran Eriksson had been defeated by Brazilian boss Luis Felipe Scolari. England could consider themselves unlucky in 2004 but here, they largely had themselves to blame.

Starting in the same 4-5-1 formation they’d used against Ecuador, the first half saw England fail to create a lot in what was a poor, cagey game. Early in the second half captain David Beckham was withdrawn due to an ankle injury, but shortly after his replacement Aaron Lennon was introduced, England’s odds became much longer when Wayne Rooney was controversially sent off for a supposed stamp on Ricardo Carvalho.

Whether the incident warranted a red card is still a point of contention, but it meant that with 10 men, England were forced to play with their backs to the wall for the remainder of the game. Holding midfielder Owen Hargreaves put on probably his best ever display for England to keep Portugal largely quiet, but in the end, it was the same old story from the penalty spot.

In a poor shoot-out from both sides, for once England’s opponents missed two kicks – Hugo Viana firing wide and Petit seeing his effort saved by Paul Robinson. But Portuguese keeper Ricardo saved both Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard’s kicks, and then substitute Jamie Carragher missed his, allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to score to send England home.

It was a dark ending to what had been a poor tournament overall for England, who really showed the first signs of the crippling “fear” that fans dread to see today.

England 1-4 Germany – World Cup 2010 Second Round

Frank Lampard's goal was incorrectly chalked off as Germany slaughtered England in 2010

The last time England played in a knockout match at a World Cup ended in absolute disaster in Bloemfontein eight years ago, as Fabio Capello’s ageing Golden Generation were absolutely mauled by a younger, fresher Germany side, condemning the Three Lions to their heaviest ever World Cup defeat.

Like in 2006 England had stuttered through the group stage, drawing with the USA and Algeria before beating Slovenia in an unconvincing performance to make it through to the knockout phase. But any England fans hoping that their tournament would kick-start from there were sorely mistaken. Capello’s flat 4-4-2 formation and pedestrian tactics were simply no match for the verve and pace of the likes of Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller.

Disaster struck early on – Matthew Upson fatally allowed a long punt from keeper Manuel Neuer to bounce, and that let Miroslav Klose slip in to slot past David James. 12 minutes later Germany struck again, as loose marking allowed Lukas Podolski to find enough space to squeeze a second goal past James.

England did strike back minutes later – Upson rising like a salmon to head Steven Gerrard’s cross home, but when Frank Lampard’s apparent equaliser was chalked off incorrectly by the referee despite the ball crossing the line, the writing was on the wall.

Forced to push for another goal in the second half, England simply left too many gaps at the back and Gareth Barry, in particular, was exposed as woefully lacking pace. Germany added two more goals on the counter through Thomas Muller, and in the end, England were well beaten.

Gareth Southgate will be hoping that tomorrow’s second-round tie looks nothing like this one.