Stuart Pearce's men controlled much of the match before some late pressure from the South Americans, and although there were few clear-cut chances in the first half, the hosts went into the break in the lead as Daniel Sturridge netted in stoppage time.

Britain qualify ahead of Senegal from Group A, after the Africans played out a 1-1 draw with the United Arab Emirates.

Moussa Konate scored his fourth goal of the Games shortly after half-time to salvage a point for Senegal, who trailed following Ismaeil Matar's opener on 21 minutes.

Awaiting them in the quarter-finals will be Group B winners Mexico, who defeated Switzerland 1-0 thanks to Oribe Peralta's 69th-minute strike, set up by Tottenham midfielder Giovani dos Santos.

South Korea move through alongside the North Americans after playing out a scoreless draw with Gabon.     

In Group C, Brazil maintained their 100 per cent record at the Games courtesy of a 3-0 win over New Zealand, with Danilo, Leandro Damiao and Sandro getting on the scoresheet for the tournament favourites.

Egypt also moved out of the group and in the process ended Belarus' campaign after a 3-1 victory over the Eastern Europeans.

Mohamed Salah gave Egypt the lead in the 56th minute before goals from Marwan Mohsen and Mohamed Aboutrika sealed the win, with Andrei Voronkov's 87th-minute strike mere consolation for Belarus.

Two scoreless draws in Group D rounded out Wednesday's action, as Japan sealed top spot after their stalemate with Honduras, who also qualified. Spain's winless – and scoreless – campaign ended after a draw with Morocco.