Spain and Australia entered the semi-finals of the Women’s Hockey World Cup in London on Thursday with hard-fought victories. The Spaniards became the first team to reach the last-four after they stunned two-time champions Germany 1-0 during their quarter-final clash.

Carmen Cano scored the only goal of the game after 54 minutes at the Olympic Park. Germany were favourties to defeat Adrian Lock’s team after their earlier 3-1 victory in the group stages. The Germans were looking in ominous form, winning each of their group matches.

“I think we can win. Now we are in the semi-final and we want the final. We believe in ourselves,” Spain captain Maria Lopez said after the match. Spain’s best ever finish at the World Cup has been fourth in 2006. They will now face the winner of the match between India and Ireland in the semi-finals.

In the second quarter-final match of the day, Australia beat Argentina via penalty shoot-out 4-3 after it finished goalless in regulation time. Hosts and Olympic champions England will meet defending champions Netherlands for the right to face the Australians in the other last four match.