BHUBANESWAR: England pulled off a major upset in the World Cup here on Wednesday when they edged 2016 Olympic champions Argentina 3-2 to qualify for the semi-finals.
The English will now play the winner of Thursday's quarter-finals between Germany and Belgium.
Argentina relied heavily on their penalty corner ace Gonzalo Peillat, who scored in the 17th and 48th minutes.
England were more clinical with field goals, as all three were well co-ordinated efforts by Barry Middleton (27th), Will Calnan (45th) and Harry Martin (49th).
Middleton, 430 caps and playing in his fourth World Cup, said it was nervy as Argentina almost equalised four seconds before the final whistle.
"Sometimes making a mistake at the final seconds can be costly, but this time, it was a good one as it showed that our defence is in good condition to stop any team in the world," said Middleton.
And what about England's next opponents: "We don't really mind playing Germany or Belgium. "Right now, I believe we can beat any team in the world and that's what we will be playing for in the semi-finals," said Middleton.
It was England's first win in 20 years over Argentina in the World Cup.
In the last edition at the Hague in the Netherlands, the South American side defeated England 2-0 in the bronze playoff.