England manage to avoid Germany
England go into their game against Sweden needing only a draw to top Group B and avoid Germany in the round of 16.
Sweden 2 (Marcus Allback, 51st; Henrik Larsson, 90th), England 2 (Joe Cole, 34th; Steven Gerrard, 85th)
COLOGNE: (Reuters) England and Sweden drew 2-2 with a late flurry of goals but both teams advanced to the last 16 of the World Cup on Tuesday.
Joe Cole put England 1-0 up in the 34th minute but Sweden fought back after the break to equalise through Marcus Allback in the 51st minute, the 2,000th goal in World Cup finals history.
Gerrard put England ahead again in the 86th minute with a header but Henrik Larsson tied the game in the last minute.
England won Group B with seven points and play Ecuador in the second round in Stuttgart on Sunday. Sweden, second in the group, meet hosts Germany in Munich on Saturday.
England striker Michael Owen had to be taken away on a stretcher in the opening minutes of the game after an awkward fall left him clutching his twisted knee in agony.
Teams:
England: Paul Robinson, Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole, David Beckham (capt), Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen.
Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Sweden: Andreas Isaksson, Olof Mellberg (capt), Teddy Lucic, Erik Edman, Tobias Linderoth, Niclas Alexandersson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Kim Kallstrom, Henrik Larsson, Mattias Jonson, Marcus Allback.
Coach: Lars Lagerback.
Referee: Massimo Busacca (SUI).