Jurgen Klinsmann's team never looked back once Podolski had fired them in into a fourth-minute lead and, after the same player doubled their advantage eight minutes later, only the excellence of Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson prevented Germany winning by a considerably wider margin.

Sweden lost defender Teddy Lucic to a second yellow card after 35 minutes and their faint hopes of a comeback all but evaporated when Henrik Larsson blazed a penalty over the crossbar eight minutes into the second half.

Germany can now look forward to a quarter-final tie in Berlin next Friday against the winners of the Argentina-Mexico match, which takes place later this evening in Leipzig.