1966 And All That with Comet... No. 12: Joe Cole vs Sweden 2006
World Cup 2006
Joe Cole lived up to the hype that's been trailing him since he was a small boy by scoring a spectacular opening goal against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup...
Joe Cole (34)
Steven Gerrard (85)
Marcus Allback (51)
Henrik Larsson (90+)
World Cup 2006 Germany,
20th June 2006
Referee: Massimo Busacca,
Att: 45,000
England needed a result against Sweden in their final group game to avoid meeting an in-form Germany in the next round.
They couldn't have got off to a worse start when Michael Owen ruptured his knee ligaments within the first minute, ending his dreams of scoring for England in five major competitions.
England appeared stunned until Joe Cole introduced himself to the world stage with one of the strikes of the tournament - chesting the ball down from a clearance and hitting a 35-yard volley that the Swedish keeper could only touch into the net.
Key Figures
Joe Cole
Cole received the man-of-the-match award for his all-round contribution. The goal was good enough to win the award alone but Cole capped a superb performance by also providing the cross for Steven Gerrard's goal.
Steven Gerrard
England were in complete disarray during the second-half but Gerrard made two telling contributions. He saved England with a goal line clearance from Kim Kallstrom and then nearly gave England victory with a late goal of his own.
Henrik Larsson
Larsson rescued his country from losing to England for the first time in 38 years with a last gasp goal in injury time. England failed to deal with a late ball pumped into the box and Larsson was there as always to prod home the equaliser.
Did You Know...?
Marcus Allback's goal during the game was the 2,000th scored in World Cup history.
The 2006 World Cup was notable for a record number of bookings with 345 yellow cards and 28 red cards shown during the tournament. Russian referee Valentin Ivanov handed out an incredible 16 yellow cards and four red cards in a single game between Portugal and the Netherlands, which came to be known as The Battle of Nuremberg.
Defender John Terry was the only English player to be named in FIFA's squad of the tournament.
What Happened Next
The draw meant that England played Ecuador in the next round while Sweden ultimately lost to Germany. England eventually reached their customary quarter-final stage where a winking Cristiano Ronaldo provoked Wayne Rooney's sending off and led Portugal to the semi-finals.
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