England qualified for the knockout stage of the World Cup after laboring to beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 thanks to two late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard at their Group B match at the Franken Stadion here on Thursday.

Crouch, a Liverpool striker who stands 1.98 meters, broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute, jumping high above Trinidad & Tobago defender Brent Sancho to head home David Beckham's cross from the right in the 83rd minute.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard made it 2-0 in the final minute when Frank Lampard won a free-kick and took it quickly to put England on the attack. Gerrard unleashed an unstoppable left-foot shot from outside the area on the right that left Shaka Hislop with no chance.

With a group game to spare against Sweden, and following Ecuador's win over Costa Rica earlier in the day in Group A, England will face either hosts Germany or the Ecuadorians in the knockout stage.

England got more and more frustrated as they found it hard to put the ball in the back of the Trinidad & Tobago net. They just missed several good chances though they dominated the match from the start.

Their best chance came in the 44th minute, when Beckham sent an perfect cross for the unmarked 1.98-meter Liverpool striker. But he volleyed the cross well wide with nobody near him.

England survived a scare in the injury time of the first half, with Chelsea skipper John Terry scooping a volley off the line after Carlos Edwards had beat England skipper Paul Robinson to a cross and Stern John races in looking to bundle the ball over the line.

Wayne Rooney, who missed the first game due to a foot injury, was finally sent on in the place of Michael Own in the 58th minute.

"It would be fair to say that you haven't seen the best of us yet, but we put ourselves in a good position. We know we can play better," Beckham said.

"It was so much work. England got so much position on the ball, " said Trinidad striker Dwight Yorke, Beckham's former Manchester United teammate. "It was a special moment because I have so many friends, so many memories of playing in England."

"People expected us to walk through this game," Beckham said. " We knew they were going to play 11 men behind the ball. They made it hard for us all game. We knew if we kept to our game plan that we'd break them down."

Source: Xinhua