The Tottenham Hotspur player WhatsApp group has taken a global twist. The club have 12 on World Cup duty, representing six nations and, whenever one of them or their teams do well, the messages and encouragement follow.

The tone of some of the exchanges may be different in the coming days or perhaps radio silence will descend out of necessity. Davinson Sánchez is the lone Spur in the Colombia squad and he has begun to prepare for Tuesday’s last-16 match with England.

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Sánchez and Colombia might have faced Belgium if results had worked out differently, which would have put him up against his clubmates Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Mousa Dembélé. Instead, it is England and, when Sánchez reflects, it is the opposition he would have chosen.

The 22-year-old will face Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane and it is the duel with the final name on the list that forms one of the principal subplots. Sánchez against Kane, centre-half v centre-forward, a contest that has been played countless times in Tottenham training sessions.

Each one knows the other’s game inside out but, at the Spartak Stadium, they have to find a way to gain the edge. It stands to have a decisive bearing on the result. Can Sánchez and his towering defensive partner Yerry Mina of Barcelona stop the player who leads the race for the Golden Boot with five goals?

“Harry is a compañero, a mate,” Sánchez said. “I haven’t spoken with him, although we’ve got a WhatsApp group there [at Tottenham] and we say congratulations to each other when we score or when we win. I’m happy for Harry because he’s in a great moment but if I play against him, I’ll try to stop him.

“Who we faced was not in my hands and I’ve also got Belgian teammates at Tottenham. But obviously being more familiar with the Premier League, I’m going to prefer England as opposition. Can we beat them? Anything is possible.”

Colombia are dreaming of going deep into the competition, of emulating or bettering their charge to the quarter-finals at Brazil 2014, when their exuberant football helped to energise a nation and, also, change perceptions about it around the world.

The passion of the Colombia supporters who have travelled to Russia has been a feature of the tournament but what has sustained the team has been their mental fortitude.

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The campaign got off to the worst imaginable start when the midfielder Carlos Sánchez was sent off in the third minute of the tie against Japan. But, after the 2-1 defeat, they beat Poland 3-0 with a free-flowing display before toughing out a 1-0 victory over Senegal to advance as the Group H winners. Colombia had been second-best in the first half against Senegal but they found a way to win, Mina heading the winner in the 74th minute.

“We’re a team with a lot of character,” Sánchez said. “We’ve always known if we play to our potential, we can be a Colombia team that can take on anybody. It always gives you confidence to get a result like the one against Senegal, when you get that momentum and, obviously, anything from here on in is a triumph.

“We are in a tough profession. It is a job that has big challenges and the slightest problem can expose us. The staff and players try to enjoy it and work with responsibility. But most of us understand that football bears fruit when you do it with passion and love. Our entire country celebrate every goal as if it’s our last.”