SAPPORO, Japan, June 7 (UPI) -- David Beckham's penalty kick in the 43rd minute Friday night was enough to give England a 1-0 victory over Argentina in a World Cup meeting of two of soccer's traditional superpowers.
The outcome left England and Sweden on top of Group F, the most talent-laden group of the tournament, with four points each. Argentina has three points with each country having one game left to play.
England finds itself in the best position to be one of the two teams to advance from the group since its final round-robin game next Tuesday comes against Nigeria, which has already been eliminated from second-round contention.
If England does beat Nigeria, Argentina must defeat Sweden to make it into the second round while Sweden will need only a tie to move on.
England and Argentina have played some of the most memorable games in the history of the World Cup and they battled hard Friday night with 41 fouls being called by Italian referee Pierluigi Collina, considered to be the best in the sport.
The most significant of those 41 calls, however, came when England's Michael Owen was taken down just inside the box by Mauricio Pochettino.
The penalty was given and it fell to Beckham, who was doubtful for the World Cup after breaking a foot two months ago, to score the decisive goal. Beckham delivered a straightaway blast as goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero was moving to his right.
Beckham thus became the hero after being a goat four years ago when he was sent off during what turned out to be an Argentina victory over England in the round of 16.
Although Argentina had almost two-thirds of the possession time in the game, England had many more quality chances.
Owen successfully outdueled three men in the 24th minute and almost scored a goal that would have been replayed for years to come. He fired a shot from the right side between the legs of Walter Samuel that struck the far post.
Early in the second half, England swarmed around the Argentine goal and was unfortunate not to increase its lead.
A shot by Owen was knocked aside by Cavallero and Paul Scholes fired the rebound wide. Beckham almost scored on a quick counter, racing past Samuel before taking the shot. And second-half substitute Teddy Sherringham came close twice, having a volley turned away by Cavallero in the 58th minute and missing a header just wide off a corner kick in the 70th.
The final 20 minutes, however, were played almost completely in England's end of the field and Danny Mills starred on defense by clearning the ball away time and again.
Argentina's best chance of the game came when goalkeeper David Seaman was able to block a powerful shot from point-blank range by Pochettino in the 77th minute.
