Three Lions roar into quarters
The Three Lions surged into an early lead on five minutes with Thomas Sorensen bundling the ball into the net after Rio Ferdinand had headed David Beckham's corner goalwards.
Further strikes from Liverpool duo Michael Owen (22) and Emile Heskey (44) sealed the fine win as Denmark had no reply to England's blistering start.
A potentially mouth-watering tussle with Brazil now awaits England in the last eight, although Belgium will still hope to cause an upset against the South Americans and set up a tantalising repeat of their second round encounter of 1990 - when David Platt's last-gasp winner saw England through.
England got off to a flying start and seized the initiative with just five minutes on the clock although a large portion of the blame can be attributed to Danish goalkeeper Sorensen.
Skipper Beckham took a corner from the left and whipped it into the area with his usual venom and Ferdinand - who is making a real name for himself in the Far East - knocked the ball goalwards and Sorensen bundled the ball into the net to the delight of the English contingent.
The Danes were rattled and were rocked even further when Milan defender Thomas Helveg was forced off 60 seconds later and the inexperienced Kasper Bogelund was brought on in his place.
Eriksson's troops had adrenalin pumping through their veins after the early goal and on the quarter hour Heskey showed real pace and used his physical presence to shrug off the attentions of Martin Laursen.
The Liverpool man bore down on goal like a bulldozer but his attempted chip was stopped by Sorensen who was still reeling from his earlier own goal. 
Denmark looked impotent as an attacking force in the opening exchanges of the first period and after 22 minutes England doubled their lead through Owen - his first goal of the 2002 tournament.
A Trevor Sinclair cross was flicked on by Nicky Butt and after a minor deflection the ball fell to Owen who controlled instantly with his right foot and dispatched a shot into the corner of the net with his weaker left foot.
It was England's first goal in this World Cup from open play and Owen ended his three game barren spell - a drought by his own high standards.
Five minutes later the shell-shocked Danes created their first real opening of the match.
Everton midfield terrier Thomas Gravesen fed Ebbe Sand who twisted the English defenders inside out but pulled his shot wide of the post when he should have done much better.
It was a bad miss and was to prove costly as England made the Danes pay in ultimate fashion.
With the half-time whistle approaching the Scandinavians were building some steam up going forward but England produced a good move to make it 3-0 with Heskey scoring his first ever World Cup goal a minute from the interval.
Danny Mills took a quick throw-in up the line and after a fortunate ricochet Beckham picked up the loose ball and fed Heskey who powered a drive past Sorensen who will be disappointed not to have parried the effort. 
It was deja-vu for Sorensen who had seen both Heskey and Owen score against him last season when Liverpool came up against Sunderland.
Eriksson replaced Owen with Robbie Fowler at the half-time interval with the former picking up a minor groin injury and coming off as a precaution.
Heading into the second 45 minutes England were wary not to concede an early goal but almost did after Paul Scholes gave away possession cheaply.
A stray pass from the Manchester United midfielder found Sand who crossed to Jesper Gronkjaer, but the Chelsea wide-man smashed high over the crossbar as Denmark's miserable day continued.
It was a warning for Eriksson's charges and they almost went to the other end a minute later and made it 4-0.
Heskey, brimming with confidence after his goal, burst down the right flank and curled a fantastic cross into the area but Bogelund stole in front of Fowler to clear the danger.
After 48 minutes Scholes was substituted for Kieron Dyer after picking up an ankle injury as Eriksson introduced some fresh legs to keep up the momentum.
Beckham, who had been somewhat quiet in the first half, led by example in the second period and almost got on the score-sheet on 56 minutes but his stinging drive was tipped over by Sorensen.
On the hour Denmark almost reduced the arrears but Bogelund's fierce drive hit Jon Dahl Tomasson's head, virtually on the goal-line, and deflected wide.
England were defending their goal like lions despite having a three-goal cushion and when substitute Claus Jensen saw his audacious chip tipped over the bar by David Seaman, Denmark knew that even a consolation goal was beyond them.
Eriksson's troops now head into the last eight with real belief after escaping the Group of Death and disposing of Denmark and will play against either Belgium or Brazil on Friday 21.
Player ratings:
England: Seaman 7, Mills 7, Campbell 7, Ferdinand 9*, Cole 7, Beckham 7, Butt 8, Scholes 8 (Dyer 7), Sinclair 7, Heskey 8 (Sheringham 7), Owen 8 (Fowler 7)
Denmark: Sorensen 5, Helveg 5 (Bogelund 6), Henriksen 5, Laursen 5, N Jensen 6, Rommedahl 5, Tofting 5 (C Jensen 6), Gravesen 7*, Gronkjaer 5, Sand 5, Tomasson 5
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