Incisive Germany humble England

Germany swept rivals England aside 4-1 in Bloemfontein to continue their remarkable achievement of reaching the last eight of every FIFA World Cup finals since 1938. They meet Argentina on Saturday afternoon.

England, without a finals victory against Germany since defeating them in the 1966 showpiece at Wembley, were punished for a sluggish start as Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski scored in the opening 32 minutes. Although Matthew Upson pulled one back soon after, Thomas Müller's second-half double underlined the superiority of Joachim Löw's charges.

The first half was one of the most entertaining in the tournament so far, the tone set when Mesut Özil scampered in behind Ashley Cole only to be denied by the legs of David James on five minutes. It was also the precursor to a spell of dominance from Germany that could have fashioned more than the two goals that materialised.

The breakthrough finally arrived after 20 minutes when a goal-kick from Manuel Neuer was misjudged by John Terry and Klose held off Upson before poking his finish past James for his 50th international goal. The FC Bayern München man's 13th World Cup finals goal should have followed on the half-hour mark only for James to repel his strike.

Germany were rampant and when Özil, Klose and Müller combined to surge through the England rearguard, Podolski drove a low finish under James to make it 2-0. However, Fabio Capello's side refused to buckle and, after Frank Lampard had been thwarted by Neuer, Steven Gerrard's arcing cross was nodded in by a towering Upson five minutes later.

Within a minute parity could have been restored, but Lampard's effort was adjudged not to have crossed the line after his sublime shot cannoned down off the bar in an incident reminiscent of England's third goal in the 1966 final. An energised England maintained their brief ascendancy after the break, with Lampard again striking the bar from a free-kick.

Germany regrouped and, having quelled the England fightback, counterattacked to devastating effect to score twice in four minutes. The two-goal cushion was restored via a flowing move after 67 minutes, Müller launching and finishing the break in between Schweinsteiger's industrious burst. Özil then charged down the left to tee up a wonderful fourth for Müller, as Germany advanced to the quarter-finals after inflicting on England their biggest ever defeat in a World Cup finals.