England profited from a goalkeeping howler and a goal-line controversy as they beat Ukraine 1-0 in Donetsk to top Euro 2012 Group D.
Wayne Rooney headed the only goal early in the second half after an error by Andriy Pyatov, but there was huge controversy when John Terry cleared a Marko Devic shot that had crossed the line.
None of the officials, including the additional assistant referee standing just metres from the ball, appeared to see the incident, and an incensed Ukraine side exited the tournament.England may feel it is payback for the 2010 World Cup, when a Frank Lampard goal against Germany was ruled out, but this latest embarrassment will surely accelerate the introduction of goalline technology.
The result sets up a last-eight encounter against Group C runners-up Italy, while France will face defending champions Spain after losing 2-0 to Sweden.
However, there should be no ignoring a sub-standard England display. Roy Hodgson's men began the match full of optimism, buoyed by a 3-2 win against Sweden, and welcoming the apparently talismanic Rooney back to the fold.
Even when they did hold the ball, they showed no likelihood of going anywhere - a succession of square passes brought a few ironic 'Ole's from the crowd, but the absolute lack of movement off the ball meant Ukraine were perfectly safe.
The goal came early in the second half from a right-sided cross by Steven Gerrard. As the ball came through, a defender got a slight touch and Pyatov missed the ball completely, gifting Rooney the simplest header.
Just after the hour mark, Ukraine equalised. Or at least they thought they had. Artem Milevskiy teed up Devic, whose shot was half-saved by Hart.
Terry ran back to clear, but the ball had already crossed the line - however, referee Viktor Kassai waved play on and received help from his assistants.
Lucky as England were, they may point out that Milevskiy was offside in the build-up.
As news came through that France were losing to Sweden, the pressure eased - England could have conceded an equaliser and still topped the group.
However, there was still a hairy moment as Hart parried a swerving Konoplyanka shot and Joleon Lescott showed good awareness to hook the ball away.
It was deeply unpretty stuff, but somehow Hodgson's men continue to deliver. They may need more luck if they are to see off the Italians.
Superb as Rooney may be for Manchester United, he has not made a positive major tournament contribution for England since 2004 - so expectations that he would transform England into free-flowing world-beaters always seemed a touch optimistic.
So it proved, as they produced a first half as stilted and insipid as anything they produced in their disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign.
Despite missing Andriy Shevchenko and Andriy Voronin from the starting XI, Ukraine dominated, showing England up with their movement and ball retention.
Early on, England's centre-backs went walkabout, allowing the excellent Andriy Yarmolenko space inside the box - but the Ukrainian dallied on the ball and his eventual shot was charged down.
Scott Parker then produced a block to deny Devic, who was first to an Artem Milevskiy lay-off.
Next it was John Terry's job to get in the way of a shot as he stopped a Yevhen Konoplyanka, and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk volleyed the follow-up over the bar.
Despite their seemingly chronic inability to locate a team-mate with a simple pass, England did have their moments, with Rooney guilty of a glaring miss.
Terry found Ashley Young on the left, whose inswinging cross found an unmarked Rooney at the back post, but somehow the striker glanced his header wide.
Back came Ukraine with Yarmolenko testing Joe Hart with a low shot that the goalkeeper did well to hold. And Yarmolenko threatened again with a mazy dribble inside the box that left three defenders in his wake, but led away from goal and he was eventually crowded out.
England cannot play like Spain, nor should they try, but their passing statistics were simply embarrassing. Xavi routinely averages 50 passes per half. In the first half, Danny Welbeck completed five, James Milner seven, Young nine and Glen Johnson 10.
Even when they did hold the ball, they showed no likelihood of going anywhere - a succession of square passes brought a few ironic 'Ole's from the crowd, but the absolute lack of movement off the ball meant Ukraine were perfectly safe.
The goal came early in the second half from a right-sided cross by Steven Gerrard. As the ball came through, a defender got a slight touch and Pyatov missed the ball completely, gifting Rooney the simplest header.
Just after the hour mark, Ukraine equalised. Or at least they thought they had. Artem Milevskiy teed up Devic, whose shot was half-saved by Hart.
Terry ran back to clear, but the ball had already crossed the line - however, referee Viktor Kassai waved play on and received help from his assistants.
SWEDEN DEFEATS FRANCE IN GROUP FINALE
France advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Championship in unimpressive fashion Tuesday, losing 2-0 to Sweden but going through thanks to England's win over Ukraine.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one of the best goals of the tournament with an acrobatic volley in the 54th minute and Sebastian Larsson added an injury-time goal to give already eliminated Sweden its first points of the tournament.
''We really wanted to win this game for the fans, their support has been fantastic,'' Ibrahimovic said. ''We wanted to finish this strongly for them.''
France, meanwhile, limps into the knockout round with big problems to solve in both defense and attack. Sweden exposed the frailties of its back four and was able to neutralize the dual threat of Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery.
''We were too average in too many areas to hope to win this match,'' France coach Laurent Blanc said. ''The Swedish team played with all their hearts, they were better prepared than us. They had a player in their ranks (Ibrahimovic) who made the difference. If you analyze the game we were in trouble for most of it.
''We're very disappointed with how we played. The main thing is that we've qualified.''
The margin of victory could have been bigger as France was outplayed for much of the game despite only needing a draw to guarantee a spot in the next round and facing a team with nothing to play for but pride.
The loss ended France's 23-game unbeaten streak but it still finished second in Group D after England beat Ukraine 1-0 in Donetsk. France will face Spain in the quarterfinals but will need a much better performance to give the defending champions much of a challenge.
''You have to be optimistic to think that we can beat Spain, but it's hard right now to imagine that we can. We have to do better on Saturday,'' Blanc said. ''We wanted to finish top of the group but couldn't manage it, so we have to deal with that.''
France looked lackluster throughout much of the game and lacked clinical finishing when it did threaten the Swedish goal.
Substitute Jeremy Menez had France's best chance to equalize when he broke into the area in the 81st minute but his low shot was stopped by goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson's leg. From the resulting corner, Olivier Giroud headed just wide.
Benzema was largely ineffective again and remained scoreless at the tournament. Ribery had France's best chance in the first half when the ball fell to him on the left edge of the area but his shot was parried by Isaksson.
Instead, it was Ibrahimovic who stole the show with another spectacular goal to add to his resume. The tall AC Milan striker met Sebastian Larsson's cross from the left and put himself nearly sideways in the air before striking the ball perfectly past a helpless Hugo Lloris in the France goal.
''It was a perfect cross from Seb,'' Ibrahimovic said. ''The whole team played a fantastic game today.''
Lloris then single-handedly kept France in the game over the next few minutes as Sweden kept pressing, making point-blank saves to deny Christian Wilhelmsson and Olof Mellberg.
