Italy coach Dino Zoff left eight players out of the line-up that won the first two games in Group B but Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero scored the winning goal after starting his first game in the Championship.

Worryingly for England, who could be their next opponents in Brussels on Saturday, Italy went up a gear when required and Luigi Di Biagio headed them into a 39th-minute lead.

The architect of the goal was Del Piero, who bamboozled right back Olof Mellberg on the touchline to gain a corner. He took the kick himself and found the unmarked Di Biagio with a precise cross, leaving the midfielder with the simplest of tasks to head high into the net.

Moments earlier Del Piero had demonstrated his touch and vision in a breakaway move, sprinting before delivering a perfectly weighted pass into the path of his front-line partner Vincenzo Montella. But he delayed his shot a moment too long, allowing Magnus Hedman to block.

Sweden, who started with an outside chance of reaching the last eight, set off manfully. From a corner b y Arsenal's Fredrik Ljungberg, Johan Mjallby rose unchallenged but Angelo Di Livio, the smallest player on the park, headed off the line.

Ljungberg had an even better chance to open the scoring after forcing his way past Paolo Negro. Goalkeeper Francesco Toldo went to ground too early but the Arsenal midfielder still missed the target with a left-footer from five yards.

Toldo was more impressive in the way he dealt with a close-range shot from Magnus Svensson before Italy took the offensive.

Del Piero had the opportunity to crown his performance with a goal when he pounced on a free kick by Di Livio. Uncharacteristically, the Juventus attacker could only direct his close-range header into the arms of Hedman.

Di Livio, Italy's star performer, was replaced to catcalls from the Italian support by Stefano Fiore, his country's new midfield talent. Celtic striker Henrik Larsson equalised in the 76th minute after accepting a pass from Kennet Andersson and rounding Toldo.

But Italy wrapped up their flawless run to the quarter-final when Del Piero profited from a mistake by Daniel Andersson, lashing a glorious left-foot shot into the net.

ITALY (3-5-2): Toldo; Ferrara, Negro, Iuliano (Cannavaro, 46min); Pessotto, Di Livio (Fiore, 64), Di Biagio, Ambrosini, Maldini (Nesta, 41); Del Piero, Montella.

SWEDEN (4-4-2): Hedman; Mellberg, P Andersson, Bjorklund, Gustafsson (K Andersson, 75); Mild, Mjallby (D Andersson, 56), Ljungberg, Svensson (Alexandersson, 53); Osmanovski, Larsson.

Man of the match: Angelo Di Livio.