BERLIN, June 24: The World Cup moved to the knockout stage on Saturday with an intriguing clash which featured three-time champions Germany and arch-rivals Sweden.

The Germans safely progressed through to the quarter-finals with a comfortable 2-0 victory in Munich

Sweden had finished the first round with a flurry after a slow start, securing their ticket to the second round with a late victory over Paraguay and two second-half goals against England, who finished first in their group and play Ecuador on Sunday.

Argentina, who started their campaign for a third world title in style with wins over Ivory Coast and Serbia & Montenegro before a scoreless draw with Netherlands, were taking on Mexico in Saturday's second knockout round match.

The halfway point in the month-long tournament marks the start of the really exciting phase when extra-time and penalty shootouts may come into play until a team emerges victorious.

While most of the pre-tournament favourites such as Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, England, Italy and Germany survived the first round, several fancied teams were eliminated in the group stage that concluded on Friday.

Czech Republic were probably the most prominent losers, earning just three points in a tough Group E with just a win over the United States despite their highly regarded team.

Poland, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro, Ivory Coast and Japan were among the other promising teams sent packing.

Argentina won their group with ease ahead of Netherlands and will be looking to carry on the form that earned them a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast and 6-0 rout of Serbia & Montenegro in the best display so far.

Mexico have only reached the quarter-finals at the two World Cups they hosted.—Reuters