England 2, Sweden 2

Both teams advance to the knockout round.

England finally got a result against Sweden it can live with.

No, not a win — that has been too much to ask for. A 2-2 tie Tuesday, however, was enough for the English to win Group B at the World Cup.

Henrik Larsson tied it off a throw-in, getting the slightest touch to deflect the ball into the net in the 90th minute. England hasn't beaten the Swedes since way back in 1968 — seven years before David Beckham was born — a streak of frustration that is now at 12 games.

But the tie means Sweden has to face three-time champion and World Cup host Germany in Munich in the second round Saturday.

"We won the group and that's what counts," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. [. . .]

England plays Ecuador on Sunday in Stuttgart. But it might have to do it without striker Michael Owen, who left in the fourth minute with a nasty-looking injury to his right knee.