With the near perfect victory, England reached the World Cup quarter-finals as the second finishers of Group A on 5 points, trailing the unbeaten Germany by two points after the defending champions beat Japan 2-0 on the same day to lead the group.

"I'm very satisfied with the result," said coach Hope Powell at a post-match press conference. "All my players have well performed."

England will take the winners of Group B in Saturday's quarter-finals, most possibly against the United States or DPR Korea which jointly lead the standings before Tuesday's last round matches.

"It'll be a tough game for us whether we play the U.S. or the DPR Koreans," said Powell.

"Our goal is to reach the quarters. We've done with it now," she added.

The best-expected European Dark Horses, which held Germany with a heroic 0-0 draw last Friday, dominated the Argentina game from the very beginning with a possession of 61% and 26 shots against the rivals' 8.

England earned their first score on an unforced error from the Argentina skipper, as Eva Gonzalez committed a 9th-minute own goal when trying to clear Casey Stoney's long pass, which flew the ball into the penalty box but found no one nearby.

Just a minute later, Jill Scott drove in a long goal from 33 meters away to beat Argentina goalie Romina Ferro to no answer.