Former England manager and Sven-Goran Eriksson believes 'it would be easier for England to beat Brazil' rather than his native Sweden in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Gareth Southgate's side progressed to the last eight of the competition following a dramatic win over Colombia on penalties on Tuesday night.

The victory set up a clash for a place in the World Cup semi-finals against Sweden, who beat Switzerland 1-0 in the last 16, on Saturday.

Ex-England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson believes 'it would be easier for England to beat Brazil'

Eriksson said that the Three Lions will find it difficult to break Janne Andersson's side down.

'It would be easier for England to beat Brazil than to beat Sweden in my opinion, Sweden today are a very hard team to break down,' he said.

'Their strikers are defenders when it’s time to defend and they can defend in their own box as well.

'If you woke them up in the middle of the night, they would know every position in defending – any possibility in the game, they know what to do.

'It’ll be the most difficult game they’ll have played so far.

'Italy couldn’t score in 180 minutes in the qualifying play-offs. Germany struggled in the group stage and needed Toni Kroos’s free-kick to save them.

Gareth Southgate's side progressed to last eight of World Cup after victory over Colombia

The victory set up a clash for a place in the World Cup semi-finals against Sweden on Saturday

'Switzerland could have played for a week and still not scored against Sweden.'

The 70-year-old also conceded that the encounter will resemble the game between England and Iceland at Euro 2016, which ended in a disappointing 2-1 defeat for the Three Lions.

'Sweden will be more or less the same as Iceland in Euro 2016,' he added.

'They don’t have the best footballers in the world, and none of our players would play in the first team of the biggest clubs in the world since Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) has left.

Eriksson said that encounter will resemble game between England and Iceland at Euro 2016

'But, as a team, the way they work together, they are one of the best. You won’t find a better team.

'Emil Forsberg is the one who sticks out. He’s the one who can change the game, win one-on-ones, and Andreas Granqvist, the captain, is the best player, a fantastic defender – but it’s as a team that Sweden has strength.'

Eriksson admitted England's first penalty shootout win in a World Cup will give them great 'confidence' but said 'Sweden won’t be impressed by (Harry) Kane'.

Sven-Goran Eriksson was speaking exclusively to Paddy Power News. To read more, visit Paddy Power.