England defender John Stones has labelled Colombia "the dirtiest team I've ever played against" after their round of 16 success.
The Three Lions lined up a World Cup quarter-final against Sweden after beating a physical Colombia in a penalty shoot-out at Moscow's Spartak Stadium.
Stones said: "The best thing for us was to beat them at football, that will hurt them most.
"They're back on the plane going home and we're in the next round"
Manchester City star Stones was critical of Colombia's physical and mental provocation following the Three Lions' second round penalty shoot out win on Tuesday.
Wilmar Barrios escaped with just a yellow card after headbutting Jordan Henderson while Colombia surrounded referee Mark Geiger after he awarded a penalty following Carlos Sanchez's foul on Harry Kane.
Stones said: "The game was so strange. It was the dirtiest team I've ever come up against, in the respect of when we won a penalty, surrounding the referee, pushing the referee, the headbutt you've all seen, scuffing the penalty spot and a lot of off the ball spot I'm sure you've not heard about.
"All the sort of things you don't really hear in a football match. On our behalf it showed massive character to keep a cool head and not get dragged into their game.
"We stuck to our plan and kept playing our way of football and that's a great quality to have. It was a difficult situation but one we've overcome and can be proud of."
England won 4-3 on penalties in Moscow after a 1-1 draw - with Yerry Mina cancelling out Kane's penalty with an injury-time equaliser.
But Stones refused to go into detail at what really happened off the ball and away from the cameras against Colombia.
"I'd rather not, it would get me in a bit of trouble. I've never seen a game like that before and how they behaved," he told a press conference. I thought there could have been several red cards - mainly off the ball stuff.
"If the referee sees the headbutt it's a totally different game, I don't want to really say but it was things we've never experienced before and it was so surprising to come across.
"The best thing for us was to beat them at football, that is the biggest thing which will hurt them.
"We stuck to our gameplan and to beat them at football, that will hurt more than us getting into a scrap."
Jamie Vardy was the only player who missed England training on Thursday.
Preparations for the Three Lions' quarter-final against Sweden has gone up a gear ahead of the trip to Samara.
Vardy is a major doubt for the match with a groin strain that needed an injection after the last-16 match against Colombia, with the striker missing training on Thursday.
England defender Stones said: "Vards was the only one actually who wasn't in training - a bit more of a precautionary thing.
"But I know from speaking to him he's fighting to get back out on the training pitch and be ready for the next game."
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