Richardson made no mistake with her second-half penalty

The match was decided by Helen Richardson's well-taken second-half penalty after Germany's Anke Kuehn handled the ball on the line.

England, who are third in the pool, will reach the semi-finals if they beat Spain in their final game on Wednesday.

Spain are second, two points ahead of England, after a 3-2 win over India.

The Netherlands top the table after they beat China 6-1 on to guarantee their semi-final berth with only the top two teams in each pool to qualify for the semi-finals.

Victory for England over the hosts would guarantee them their highest World Cup finish since Sydney in 1990.

I am delighted with our application and effort - I can't really ask for any more England coach Danny Kerry

England's penalty came about when Kuehn handled Lucilla Wright's shot following a goalmouth scramble.

England were also grateful for some superb goalkeeping from Beth Storry in the first half.

Coach Danny Kerry said: "I am delighted with our application and effort - I can't really ask for any more. It just shows the great character within the team.

"Before the tournament if I'd been offered the prospect of going into our last group game with a chance of making the semi-finals I would have taken it, definitely.

"But we have an incredibly tough game against the home side tomorrow."

England will make a late decision on whether to include captain Kate Walsh against Spain after the Slough defender missed the last two matches because of a knee injury.