England are through to the second round after they were held to a goalless draw by Nigeria in Osaka.

Sven Goran Eriksson's men will face Denmark on Saturday after finishing second behind Sweden in Group F, who sent Argentina packing after a 1-1 draw.

The Swedes will take on Senegal on Sunday.

Nigeria began brightly in the humid conditions with Jay-Jay Okocha pulling all the strings for the Africans.

The first real chance of the game fell to Nigeria but Benedict Akwuegbu's effort from a tight angle failed to trouble David Seaman.

Moments later Michael Owen set off on one of his typical surging runs but his shot was well blocked by Isaac Okoronkwo.

The ineffective Emile Heskey was replaced in the second half by Teddy Sheringham and the Spurs man should have got on the scoresheet when he blazed an effort over the bar, which pretty much summed up the England performance.

But it was the result they needed and they will now play Group A winners Denmark in Niigata on Saturday.

Ariel Ortega's late strike was not enough to save Argentina who failed to take the three points they needed against Sweden in Miyagi.

Ortega was the first to react after Hernan Crespo's penalty was saved by Coventry 'keeper Magnus Hedman.

Southampton striker Anders Svensson had earlier given Sweden the lead with a well taken free-kick.

The draw sees Sweden finish top of Group F whilst Argentina, who finished third, will not be playing in the second round for the first time in 40 years.

Spain will meet Ireland in the second round after they finished top of Group B with a 100% record following a 3-2 win over South Africa in Daejeon.

Needing just a draw to qualify for the second phase, South Africa twice came from behind only to see Raul grab his second and Spain's third in the 56th minute.

The Spaniards were in front after just four minutes. South Africa 'keeper Andre Arendse raced out to smother the ball but somehow managed to let it slip from his grasp leaving Raul with the easy task of putting the ball in the back of the net.

Benni McCarthy levelled on the half hour, when he pounced on Siyabonga Nomvete's knockdown but Spain were back in front just before half-time when Gaizka Mendieta curled home a free-kick.

Skipper Lucas Radebe headed his side back into the game eight minutes after the restart only to see Jose Camacho's side regain the lead for a third time when Raul headed home Joaquin's cross.

To make matters worse for South Africa, they may well have qualified for the second round without having to pick up a single point from their game but for a fantastic second half fightback from Paraguay against Slovenia.

Needing to win by two clear goals and already down to ten men after Carlos Humberto Paredes was dismissed in the 22nd minute for a second bookable offence, they trailed to a Milenko Acimovic goal just before half-time.

Paraguay's World Cup campaign looked to be nearing it's end until substitute Nelson Cuevas give the South American's a glimmer of hope when he equalised in the 66th minute.

Seven minutes later Jorge Campos made it 2-1 and Cueves completed a remarkable comeback when he smashed his shot in off the bar in the 84th minute to get up a second round clash with Germany on Saturday.

Read more about the World Cup here.