Germany set up England semi-final after topping Pool A

ENGLAND will face Germany in the semi finals of the Hockey World Cup in Delhi after the defending champions hammered New Zealand in their final group match to top Pool A.

HEAD TO HEAD: England defender Adam Dixon will come face to face with Germany's Philip Witte in the semi-finals of the Hockey World Cup in Delhi (Getty Images)

After completing a 5-2 defeat of the Black Sticks on Tuesday, Olympic champions Germany became the only team to go undefeated throughout the round-robin stage.

Goals from Christoph Menke, Florian Fuchs and Philip Witte put the Germans in control before second-half strikes from Shea McAleese and Nicholas Wilson pulled New Zealand back into contention at 3-2 down.

But penalty corners from Moritz Furste and Matthias Witthaus finished the tie in the last ten minutes, to seal top spot for Germany and a last-four showdown with European champions England, who finished second in Pool B after a 2-0 defeat to Spain in their final match.

England slipped to a 3-2 defeat to Germany last time the two teams met at November's Champions Trophy in Melbourne.

But having beaten the Germans 5-3 to lift the EuroHockey Nations Championship in August, Jason Lee's men will be looking for a repeat performance on Thursday.

The Netherlands would have won Pool A with victory in their final match but a 2-1 defeat to South Korea ensured they slipped to second and will face world number two team Australia in the semi finals.

Ronald Brouwer handed the Dutch a perfect start with a goal after only 25 seconds but after Hyun Woo Nam equalised with a penalty corner four minutes before half-time, Jong Ho Seo edged the Koreans in front.

South Korea needed to win by two goals to secure second place in Pool A but couldn't fashion another opportunity as the Netherlands held on to secure their last four spot.

In the final match of the day, Argentina warded off a late comeback to down Canada 4-2 and finish fifth in the group.

Lucas Vila, Matias Paredes and Mario Almada put Argentina in control before two goals in the space of five minutes from Scott Tupper and David Jameson put Canada 3-2 behind.

But Argentina clung on to their lead and Tomas Argento finished off the match in the last minute to secure fourth place in the pool and leave Canada rock bottom with five defeats from five.