England [ Images ] overcame South Africa [ Images ] 3-1 in their concluding Pool B league fixture of the men's hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany [ Images ] on Thursday night and qualified to play for 5-8 positions.

The South Africans (2 points), along with India [ Images ], Argentina and Japan [ Images ], will be involved in classification matches for 9-12 positions.

Giving England a company in the contest for 5-8 slots are the Netherlands, Pakistan and New Zealand [ Images ].

South Africa went ahead with a ninth minute goal by Ian Symons, but England came back strongly with James Tindall (20th) and Richard Mantell (41st, 48th) scoring.