Andy Carroll has given England a 1-0 half-time lead over Sweden in their Group D clash at Euro 2012.
Roy Hodgson's men came close to taking the lead after only six minutes in Kiev when Scott Parker's long-range effort was acrobatically palmed away by Andreas Isaksson.
The Swedes had a similar opportunity minutes later, but Joe Hart easily gathered Sebastian Larsson's stinging drive.
England landed the opening blow on 24 minutes when Carroll powered in an impressive header from Steven Gerrard's whipped cross.
However, Sweden nearly snatched an equaliser soon after as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's deflected shot was saved by Hart.
The Three Lions had a glorious chance to double their lead before the break when Ashley Young found himself through on the angle, but the winger scuffed a disappointing effort wide with Carroll and Danny Welbeck waiting in the middle.