Image source, Getty Images

No tense finale, no complications and no penalties. It almost didn't feel like watching England yesterday did it?

Observations, we might add, that were shared by BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty in Samara.

Here's Phil's take on England's World Cup quarter-final victory over Sweden and what it all means going forward.

Michael: I followed the game laying on trolley in A&E, waiting to be admitted due to a leg problem (guess that's why I never got the call from Gareth!).

Arron: Is it just me or does the Gareth Southgate 'lookalike' appear more like Hans Gruber in Die Hard?

Rob: To celebrate Gareth Southgate's leadership and falling back in love with international football, I shall not be shaving until our world cup campaign is over. I shall also be seeking a waistcoat. #bemoresouthgate. Feel free to join me.

We hope you're making a fine recovery Michael. Still not sold on the waistcoat though Rob. Though everyone else feel free to chip in via #bbcworldcup, external or text on 81111

The 1990 squad was definitely stronger, Steve. But in the last two games this year's team has shown they can grind out results, which is crucial in knockout football. And as Chris says, many of the big sides are already out, so who knows, maybe it is coming home?

Chris Waddle
Ex-England winger on BBC Radio 5 live

More from Chris Waddle on BBC Radio 5 live:

"People will say I am biased but I’ve got to say, we were a stronger squad. If you could do a computer game and work it out who would win if we played each other I’d be very surprised if we didn’t win.

"The difference in our squad to this one is that we had a lot more creativity in our team. We had a better variation of the squad to pick from. We keep saying we’re lacking an individual type player, a [Paul] Gascoigne, a John Barnes, a Peter Beardsley - we haven’t got someone like that. If we did I’d be more confident of winning it.

"It’s a weird tournament because a lot of teams that people fancy have been knocked out so it’s thrown the door wide open."

Difficult to disagree to be honest but as he says, the door is wide open. What do you think Ben?

We'll just leave this with you.

Speaking of which...

Andrew: Landed in Nice an hour before kickoff, made it to a packed Irish pub with wife and sister in tow

Not so sure myself. He's lucky to get a 6 in my book. But if it means you get free beers, I'm all for it.

Now that is a good effort Ben. Just the tie missing from the others of course but it's got to be a steady 7 or 8/10 for Neil.

Marks out of 10 for the Gareth Southgate impersonator then Steve?

He's not the only one donning a waistcoat this summer, in homage to the England boss...

Bit of a blast from the past here, but while we're talking of Italia 90 and goal celebrations we just thought we'd throw this into the mix!

Anyone of a certain age feeling any more excited... it's the music, isn't it?

BBC Radio 5 live

Ever wondered what it means to look like Gareth Southgate? Well, apparently it involves signing autographs in McDonalds, taking 500 selfies and receiving free beers....

Oh, and wearing a waistcoat. Huge credit to Neil from Surrey who was in Samara yesterday and is a long-term Southgate impersonator.

He told BBC Radio 5 live: "This waistcoat isn't made for Central Asian Summer Time, I can tell you that, but well done M&S. I signed kids napkins in McDonalds in 96 after he missed the penalty, have been shouted at by Colombian fans and got free beers in the Irish bar."

Remember Chris Waddle and Terry Butcher's jig after England's World Cup wins in 1990?

Nice to see today's England players channeling their inner Butcher and Waddle. Those guys knew how to party!

Chris Waddle
Ex-England winger on BBC Radio 5 live

Chris Waddle is back on BBC Radio 5 live this morning, reflecting on England's victory. Here's what he's had to say:

"I didn’t think I’d see a team ever get to the semi-final again. We’ve talked about our side for so long and you think 'will somebody please go further than us or get on par'.

"Everywhere we’ve gone we’ve talked about ours and everyone knows how we went out. We know what happened and every time a tournament comes up we always bring up the same thing.

"Wow, somebody has actually now done it."

As John said, 1966, 1990 and now 2018 in Russia...

Given it's been 28 years since England last reached a World Cup semi-final and this is only their third ever. You might, just might, fancy watching this again....

Don't think any of the BBC pundits need to look over their shoulder.

Speaking of which, here's how Chris Waddle and John Murray reacted to the final whistle.

Some of us were lost for words after yesterday's game. Some of us just didn't have many.

Thanks to Jacqui Oatley for pointing to this fan reaction to England's win over Sweden yesterday.

In case you couldn't follow yesterday's action, here's what you missed out on.

Given it's the knockout stage and few expected England to get this far, many people already had other plans for yesterday afternoon.

We sure have enjoyed every minute, but how did you follow yesterday's game?

We want to know where you were and how you celebrated a memorable victory for the Three Lions.

But never mind about Prince Harry, here's what Prince William had to say.