England have won a World Cup penalty shoot-out at last but are not resting on this achievement, with morale sky-high after the defining moment and a quarter-final against Sweden to come on Saturday.
"They are bloody difficult to play," manager Gareth Southgate said of the Swedes. "At the moment we are high as a kite but we must come down. It is a great game to be in.
"I respect Sweden hugely. Our record against them is not good. We have often underestimated them."
The Saturday date in Samara is the third between the teams at a World Cup, following draws in the group stages in 2002 (1-1) and 2006 (2-2). The have also met twice at European Championships, with Sweden winning 2-1 in 1992 and England 3-2 in 2012.
Most friendlies between the two have been tight affairs so the smallest details could make the difference, such as that Sweden played their last-16 match four hours ahead of England and needed only 90 minutes to beat Switzerland 1-0.
England, meanwhile, had to labour for 120 minutes, with Colombia's stoppage-time equalizer forcing extra-time after England had taken a first-half lead through captain Harry Kane's penalty.
The 4-3 shoot-out win, amid a hostile environment created by the predominantly Colombian crowd in Moscow's Spartak Stadium, was further draining, especially on the mental side, for a team that showed great composure and calmness all night.
But the night seems a defining moment for the young team of Southgate, who himself had missed from the spot in the semi-final shoot-out against Germany at Euro 96.
"We have grown up a lot on this pitch tonight," Tottenham ace Kane said. "It gives us huge relief - winning a knock-out [game] and a shoot-out ticked all the boxes and gives us more belief than ever."
Southgate said: "We talked a lot about [the fact] that they can make their own history ... Maybe we are getting a bit smarter."
The team had practised penalties in a bid to overcome their poor record, having exited major tournaments following shoot-out defeats against Germany, Argentina and Portugal. Confidence was high throughout even though "we were doing it the hard way, we even lost the toss," Southgate said.
The manager now needs to keep the team grounded as expectations rise, with many English fans believing that this World Cup could be the chance of a lifetime as so many favourites have fallen by the wayside.
Sweden won the group from which title holders Germany were surprisingly eliminated. The winner of England-Sweden wil play either hosts Russia or Croatia in the semi-final.
England, however, face a difficult task Saturday, having not won back-to-back knock-out games at the World Cup since 1990, and they face a team that has kept a clean sheet in three of its four games and only lost against Germany in stoppage time.
England's main asset has been set plays, from which they have scored seven of their nine goals. Those include three penalties from Kane, who is the tournament's top scorer with six and is keen to build on that.
"I am extremely proud. As a striker you want to score and help your team," Kane said. "Hopefully it continues. We want to do better and go a long way."