With Germany beating Ecuador in the earlier game England needed to at least draw with Sweden to confirm a match against the South Americans in the second round. The stage was set for a boring no score draw but we got a little more.

Michael Owen went off very early with what looks like a new injury that will send him home, Joe Cole was man of the match and capped his display with one of the goals of the tournament and David Beckham was so uninvolved he started to come over to the left to take throw-ins.

The game finished 2 each and Sweden left it to the last few minutes to get the equaliser. It was at times a pulsating match and at other times a desperate match. England looked better than the first two matches but there is lots of room for improvement.

Second round matches for both teams will be played on the 24th and 25th; I don't expect to see Sweden move forward but England should be able to make it to the quarter finals where they will meet anyone out of Argentina, Holland, Mexico and Portugal.