Liam Pitchford won the decisive match for the home side as they saw off the challenge of the Pan American champions at the Copper Box.

He defeated Eric Jouti 3-1 to ensure his country won the best-of-five contest.

Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker got the ball rolling by beating Jouti and Gustavo Tsuboi 3-2 in the opening doubles rubber.

Pitchford then brushed aside Hugo Calderano 3-0 to put his side on the brink of victory, before Tsuboi gave Brazil hope with a 3-2 win over Drinkhall.

England had earlier beaten Egypt 3-1 in the last round of pool play to ensure they qualified from Group B alongside Japan.

"I'm really lost for words, I don’t know what to say," said Pitchford. 

"I'm over the moon. 

"I've been working recently with psychologists and one-to-one with coaches, working on small things in my game that I need in order to make the step up. 

"It's been up and down but now I feel I'm flourishing."

Overwhelming favourites China will be a huge test after they breezed into the last four without dropping a game against Germany.

Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin beat Benedikt Duda and Patrick Franziska 3-0 in the doubles before Olympic champion Ma Long whitewashed Ruwen Filus.

Xu then brushed aside Duda as China's bid for a ninth title remained alive. 

South Korea will play Japan in the other semi-final after they both won 3-2 against France and Hong Kong respectively.

In the women's event, China eased past United States 3-0 as they aim for an eighth successive crown.

Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen, who both boast Olympic gold medals, saw off Amy Wang and Jennifer Wu 3-0 in the doubles.

Wang Manyu beat Lily Zhang by the same score and Liu then beat Wu, also 3-0.

China will play Hong Kong in the last four who were 3-0 winners over Romania.

North Korea won 3-0 against Chinese Taipei and will meet Japan after their 3-1 success over Singapore.