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

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.