All 6 goals from the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, ranked

The best finishes from England vs. Sweden and Russia vs. Croatia.

There is precious little World Cup remaining, so we must cherish every moment we have. In that spirit, we’re going to watch all the goals from the quarterfinal matches on Saturday, Sweden vs. England and Russia vs. Croatia, and rank all of them. Why not?

6. Vida’s seeing-eye header for Croatia in extra time

This was an important one, but huh, what a weird goal. A corner kick is sent in, Domagoj Vida raises and gets his head on it, and then the ball sorta rolled through three or four people and found its way into the net. It might have been given to Corluka, who got a touch on it, maybe? Anyway, weird goal. Croatia doesn’t care, of course.

5. Harry Maguire’s booming header

This goal was massive for England, but at this stage in the competition, there are no goals that aren’t massive. Every goal counts in a big way. (Well, unless it’s a Germany beating Brazil 7-1 situation. Those last few from Germany weren’t all that massive, more humiliating than anything else.)

But it’s a well taken corner, a booming finish from Maguire, and it got England going en route to a semifinal.

4. Andrej Kramaric’s quick header

This was a wonderful quick attack from Croatia, and I love the ball from Mandzukic so much to the head of Kramaric. Mandzukic had about a 6-inch window for which to place this ball and get it to a place where Kramaric could score, and he fired the thing in there.

3. Mario Fernandes’ stunning equalizer in extra time

I guess I’m supposed to say “Set pieces. Set pieces. Set pieces.” here. Russia looked completely cooked, absolutely done, and then they got a free kick on the edge of the box and no one marked Mario Fernandes and he finished an absolutely beautiful header to tie up the game.

2. Dele Alli finishes a delightful cross from Jesse Lingard

This is a nice, composed finish from Alli, but what a freaking ball from Jesse Lingard. He gets the ball at a decent angle, but plays a high, curling ball over the defense that is just enough away from the keeper, and only get-able by Alli, who does his job well.

1. Denis Cheryshev breaks it open for Russia

This goal came out of nothing, but what a way for Cheryshev to break things open. A pass from the midfield, a touch from striker Dzyuba, and then Cheryshev putting that beautiful left foot through the ball and it into the upper lefthand corner. Was the goalie out of position? Who cares. That’s a gorgeous finish.