There, they will meet The Netherlands, who beat Italy 2-0 in the day's other quarter-final in Valenciennes.

The odds already appeared stacked against Sweden, who had not beaten their opponents in a major tournament since 1991.

They then lengthened even further when Lina Magull gave Germany the lead in the 16th minute at the Roazhon Park with a brilliant scissor-kick volley.

The last time a team had lost a World Cup quarter-final after scoring first was in 1999.

But Sweden were level within six minutes Sofia Jakobsson equalised - the first goal Germany had conceded in the tournament.

They then took the lead three minutes after half-time through Stina Blackstenius and held out against fierce German pressure in soaring temperatures to gain revenge over their opponents for their defeat against them in the final of the Olympic Games at Rio 2016.

Sweden did have a scare when the video assistant referee ruled out claims for a penalty when goalkeeper keeper Hedvig Lindahl clattered into Germany's captain Alexandra Popp.

"We looked at Germany and knew there would be a bit more space behind their back line to exploit with Blackstenius and Jakobsson," Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson said.

"Today it worked well, sprinting past the defensive line. 

"We knew we had to threaten them behind their back line."

The Netherlands had to be patient at the Stade du Hainaut and did not take the lead until the 70th minute thanks to Vivianne Miedema with a glancing header against Italy, who have surprised many at this tournament with their best performance for 28 years. 

Another header, 10 minutes later, from Stefanie van der Gragt, secured the Dutch place in the last four.

The Netherlands pulled off an upset by winning the European Championships on home soil two years ago, beating Sweden in the quarterf-inals, and has maintained the momentum in France.

"I'm not really surprised with how far we've come, but I'm very proud of the team," Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman said. 

"I think we have very good players but things have changed so much since the European Championships. 

"We've gained a lot of confidence but we also needed to improve our game to perform on the level that we're at at this World Cup."

The Netherlands are due to meet Sweden in the semi-final on Wednesday (July 3).

The night before England will play the defending champions and favourites the United States.

Both matches are due to take place at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon.

The victories for Sweden and The Netherlands earned them spots at next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The top three European nations at the World Cup guaranteed positions, with England's performance putting Great Britain through for what will be only the second appearance for the women following London 2012.